OTP (One True Pairing) Prompts
by David Carner
Summary: A series of Prompts I found online about different times and places in Chuck and Sarah's life. Mostly AU, mostly one-shots. I assume mostly fluff, but I might get deep. I doubt it, it's me. Charah...ALWAYS (It says complete, but if an idea strikes me...)
1. In a Theater

A/N: I've been having a rough day and was looking around the internet at OTP (one true pairing) prompts. So this is going to be one shots, when I want to, at different periods, mostly AUs. I hope you like it, but to be honest this is for me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

_Setting: high school age Chuck and Sarah (Jenny) who have never met_

"Bartowski!" Big Mike yelled. Chuck came running up to the counter. "That action movie is over, go clean up theater ten."

"Uh, Big Mike, isn't it Jeff's turn?" Chuck asked. Chuck had been working at the Great Facade Theater for 2 years now, since he was a sophomore in high school.

"Bartowski, that theater was full, I don't dare send him in there," Big Mike explained.

"But if he can't do the job why is he still here?" Chuck asked, perplexed.

"Bartowski," Big Mike said in a fatherly tone. "This is all that idiot has, if I fire him, there's no telling where he'd go to work. Now go in there and clean that theater."

"Yes, sir," Chuck said, heading toward the theater. He opened the doors to theater ten and walked inside. He began to clean when he heard a sound in the back. "Hello?" he said, shining his flashlight toward the back. He saw a form in the back of the theater, shielding her face. "I'm sorry, I thought everyone had left. The movie is over."

There was no answer, and he figured out what the sound was. She was crying, at least he thought it was a she. He had heard this type of crying before, this soul deep anguish. It was the same type of crying he had done himself several times after his mom and dad had abandoned him and Ellie.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm sorry, of course you're not, you wouldn't be crying in the theater if you were," he more muttered than said. He saw her start to get up. "You don't have to go. It's okay. I get it." She stopped, and he got a look at her. Blond hair, braces, and her eyes and cheeks red. Ellie had referred to it as ugly crying. Chuck didn't think that was the right term because it was the type of crying that barred your soul for everyone to see. It left you raw, vulnerable, and transparent to anyone that saw you. Chuck thought it was a chance to see a person's true self.

He walked up to the row she was in and sat down. Ten seats separated them. "I won't watch this movie, Armageddon." He felt her look at him, but he kept looking forward. "I know the dad sacrifices himself for his daughter, for her boyfriend to come home, but that gets to me. My dad left me. My mom too." He felt her eyes boring into him. "I don't have the guts to watch it. I'm not brave enough to face it."

"You think watching this is brave?" he heard her ask, sniffling.

"If you've had some similar circumstances, yeah," Chuck admitted. "I'm Chuck."

"Jenny," she replied.

He glanced over at her, but she had tucked her head again. "Nice to meet you Jenny. Is there anything I can do?" She shook her head. He made a big production of looking around, opened his vest, and pulled out a box of popcorn and a container of milk duds. He sprinkled the milk duds over the popcorn and took a bite. He sighed contently. "Don't tell anyone, but I like doing this, being all alone in the theater."

"Why?"

"I don't have to pretend I'm okay in here," Chuck said with a shrug. "I don't have to act like everything is okay, and I just get to be me."

There was silence for a bit, and then he felt her get up. She studied him for a second, and sat closer so that one seat was between them. He slowly handed her the box of popcorn. She took it from him and took a quick few bites.

"Eat as much as you want," he said. "I can get more."

"Thanks," she said softly. "My dad was arrested." Chuck didn't say anything. "Today."

"I'm sorry," he replied.

"He never did anything for me…I mean he left me some money, but he never let me be a kid, he involved me in things, he didn't make sacrifices for me." Tears started to flow down her face.

"Where will you go?" Chuck asked.

She shook her head. "I have no idea," she admitted. "I have no one."

Chuck sat there a second and thought about all the times Ellie had complained about how there had been no one there for them, about how they had to make it on their own. He made a decision, one he knew he'd have to explain to Ellie, but she'd accept it. She would.

"My sister and I have been pretty much on our own for a few years. I'm sure we can help you if you want," Chuck offered.

"What's the catch?" she blurted out. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," Chuck replied, a look of horror on his face. "It's just…I've been in a similar situation. I've been in the pain I heard in your crying, and it's awful, and I wish someone had been there for me. I know you don't know me, and I know you have no reason to trust me, but I don't want anything from you, I just want to help. That requires you to trust me."

"I don't trust anyone," she said softly. "Trust, love, all of that…it's for fools."

"Who told you that?" Chuck asked, looking at her.

"My dad," she admitted. She sat there, not saying anything.

He stood up and she started to rise. "No, you don't have to leave, I'm just gonna clean," he said. As he began to do his job, he began to tell her stories of his coworkers, Jeff and Lester and the crazy things they did. He told her stories of Morgan and how he stayed in trouble at school. Jenny found herself laughing and by the time he was done she felt better. "I'm sorry, but I have to close up."

She nodded, stood, and walked down to the entranceway. She stopped and turned toward him. "I need you to know I have a knife on me and know how to use it." His eyes grew wide and he saw her grin for the first time in an hour. He could get used to that. "If you try anything…"

"Fine," Chuck replied, hands up. "But for my safety, if you need a hug you'll have to initiate it." She raised an eyebrow, making him grin. He could see her wheels turning and he could get used to goading her and her messing with him. "Friends do hug you know."

"Friends, Chuck?" she asked. Chuck nodded. Her eyes got a little misty. "I could use a friend, she said, stepping toward him.

"Chuck Bartowski, Jenny's friend," Chuck said, hugging her.

"Jenny Burton, Chuck's friend," Jenny replied. "Do you think it will be okay with Ellie?"

They separated and Chuck looked her in the eye. "If it's not then she is a hypocrite and Ellie isn't a hypocrite." He grabbed his stuff. "Come on, let's get out of here." He held his hand out and she took it, nodding to him.

"Thank you, Chuck."

"Anytime, Jenny, anytime."

A/N: Obviously in this scenario the CIA never caught Jenny. Reviews and PMs always welcomed.

DC


	2. The Apartment Building

A/N: Hi, for the record, this is not a continuation of the last chapter. Although I went to bed thinking, no way, I've had…thoughts. I have ideas, and AFTER I finish some, if there's still interest, I may do an entire fic. They'll be really short chapters if I do. If you have an idea you'd like me to TRY (and sometimes I just don't feel a story so I won't do it) send me a prompt. The more specific, the better.

This one, Chuck has graduated college, is in his first apartment building. Enjoy OTP Prompts, The Apartment

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

* * *

Day 1

Chuck looked around his apartment, satisfied with it. His nerd shiek decorating style made him quite happy. He was going to enjoy working from home, programming. He and Bryce hadn't parted college on the best of terms but they did respect each other's work ethic. Chuck just didn't appreciate Bryce's choice in girlfriends, specifically his, at the time, current girlfriend, now Chuck's ex-girlfriend. Regardless of what happened, and what punches might have been thrown, Bryce had recommended Chuck for an amazing job, working from home.

Chuck headed into his bedroom, ready to hit the sack. He was exhausted, he had nowhere to be tomorrow and he was going to sleep until noon. Chuck's head hit the pillow and he was out like a light.

Day 2

He blinked and looked at the clock. It was 6:32 AM, and he heard something. It wasn't loud, but it was loud enough, and good enough to awaken him. He'd thought he'd be mad, but the sound he was hearing was amazing. He followed it out of his bedroom and into his bathroom. It was singing, an angelic voice, and it was coming from the other side of the wall. _And my heart is set on you. You better shape up, you better understand, to my heart I must be true._ The singing continued for a few minutes and Chuck stood there, amazed. The shower stopped on the other side as did the singing. He stood there, not sure what to do. He walked back to his bedroom, looked at his alarm clock, and set it for 6:25 the next morning. He was up, and he decided to get ready for his day. Truth was, he was ready for the little over 23 hours from now.

Day 7

Chuck was in the shower when he heard her's start. For the past four mornings he had gotten up and listened to her singing. It was _electrifying. _He heard her shower start, and he took a deep breath before he could lose his nerve. He began to sing. "_I got chills They're multiplying And I'm losing control Cause the power you're supplying It's electrifying!__" _He stopped singing and listened. There was nothing. He had ruined it. And then he heard, _You better shape up Cause I need a man And my heart is set on you. _

For the next several minutes they showered and sang. When the song ended, he heard her shower cut off. Nothing else was said. Chuck stood there grinning.

Day 14

For the past week the two of them sang in the shower together, never saying anything else. Never meeting face to face, never getting to know each other. Chuck started his shower and waited. He began to clean himself, as he waited. He waited for fifteen minutes, and shut off the shower. He listened all day. He never heard her sing that day. Chuck went to bed, depressed.

Day 21

It had been a week of no showers from his mysterious friend, and Chuck had skipped a few mornings showering himself, upset over being alone. He had tried to sing once or twice but it didn't feel right. He did shower later in the day, just not first thing, because it didn't seem right. He went out with friends a couple of times, but never stayed long. Morgan seemed to always want to go to a karaoke bar and tonight he was going.

He, Morgan, Ellie, and Awesome made their way inside the bar, everyone having fun, except for Chuck. A woman about Chuck's age came on stage with an older man. Chuck looked up at her, she was beautiful, that he knew, and there was something about her, but even that couldn't hold his attention. This was stupid. He didn't even know who his wall neighbor was. She might have moved.

"Hi everyone," the woman began. "My Dad and I caught back up this week after a long time of not seeing each other." They both looked a little uncomfortable, and it was clear she had forced him up there. Chuck grinned and chuckled. Poor guy, wrapped around his daughter's finger like some sort of snook. "When I was a kid, my favorite song was from Grease so Dad and I are gonna sing a song from it."

Chuck dropped his head. This was going to be like salt begin poured in the wound. The father took the mike and began to sing his part. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't as good as Chuck. "_I got chills They're multiplying And I'm losing control Cause the power you're supplying It's electrifying!__"_

Chuck took a drink knowing this was going to hurt, but what happened next nearly made him spit his drink out. It was HER! "_You better shape up Cause I need a man And my heart is set on you You better shape up You better understand To my heart I must be true__" _Chuck's eyes got wide, and a slow smile began to grow on his face as he understood what exactly was going on. She had been with her father all week. An idea hit him.

He leaned over to Ellie. "El, you remember _Dirty Dancing_" She nodded. "For old time's sake?" She nodded and the two got up and went to the stage manager. A little bit later his neighbor and father went and sat down.

The two took the stage, and Chuck took the mike. "Hi everyone, my sister and I are going to do a song from when we were kids. She used to make me watch a certain movie all the time, and well..what can I say, the song grew on me." He was watching his neighbor, who was watching him, amusement on her face. He nodded to the man controlling the music and it began.

"_Now I, had the time of my life,_" Chuck sang. His neighbor's eyes grew wide. She knew. He and Ellie sang the song, Chuck feeling her staring at him the entire time. When they finished they came off stage and had to walk past her table. His neighbor had stood and they were less than five feet from the table, when Morgan appeared.

"Chuck, we gotta go man," Morgan began. "Awesome just got a text and so did Ellie, accident, all hands on deck. I KNEW we shouldn't have all ridden together." Chuck's eyes met his neighbors. She apparently heard everything because she gave him the slightest head nod. He returned it. They left the club, and as he exited the door, he looked back, and saw her watching him.

Day 22

Chuck got up as his alarm went off, and headed toward the bathroom. He turned on his shower, checking the temperature, when he heard the water next door start. She began to sing. "_You by the light Is the greatest find In the world full wrong You're the thing that's right Finally made it Through the lonely To the other side._"

Chuck joined her for the chorus. "_You said it again My heart's in motion Every word feels like a shooting star I'm at the edge Of my emotions Watching the shadows burning in the dark And I'm in love And I'm terrified For the first time_

_In the last time In my only life_

They sang the rest of the song, and Chuck heard the water next door shut off. He made up his mind. He hopped out of the shower, dried off and, headed to his bedroom. He dressed as fast as he could, walked to the front door, took a deep breath, jerked it open, and stopped. There standing in front of him was his singing partner, the woman from the club last night.

"Hi," she said a little flustered. "I was gonna knock but I wasn't sure if you were dressed yet, and thought that might make things a little more awkward." She thrust out her hand. "I'm Sarah."

"Chuck," he said, taking it, shaking it, and feeling what he thought was a spark.

"Would you like to get coffee?" she asked, a grin on her face.

"I'd love it," he said, his smile growing until all his teeth showed.

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked. Reviews and PMs are always welcomed

DC


	3. The Double Date

A/N: Today's prompt is a double date in the restaurant turns bad, blah, blah, blah, but I'm putting my spin on it. This is so stupid fluffy that I'm almost embarrassed to publish it….yeah, I don't believe me either. Ch 3, The Restaurant.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

* * *

Chuck shook his head. This was a dumb idea. Bryce had told Chuck he needed to date, but he had been so busy creating the tech to get their company off of the ground that he rarely had any time to socialize. Tonight he was going on a double date with Jill, and her friend, Sarah. Apparently Sarah was in marketing at Jill's company, Roberts Pharmaceuticals. Bryce thought Jill and Chuck would be absolutely perfect for each other. Chuck had asked Bryce why he wasn't dating Jill, and Bryce admitted, she was super smart and he was a little intimidated by her.

Chuck had reached the restaurant and had gone inside when his phone went off. Bryce was running late. Chuck shook his head, chuckled, and walked in telling the hostess that they needed a table for 4.

"Great," came the muttering voice behind him. "She's running late and I have to entertain some nerd. He'll probably want to talk about Star something or another." Chuck gave her a glance, and was absolutely gobsmacked by her beauty. "I never should have agreed to this."

"Mr Bartowski, your table's ready," the hostess said to him.

Chuck glanced at the muttering lady, and thought it was time to throw her a life preserver before she drowned. "Uh, miss," he said to the woman who had just came in. "Are you waiting for Bryce?" Her eyes widened. "He's running late." A look of horror came over her face but he gave her a soft smile, and offered her his arm. "If I may?" She gave him a look, and an amused smile crossed her face. She took his arm and they followed the hostess to the table. He pulled out a chair for her and she sat down. He started to go around, when her hand grabbed his wrist gently. He looked down at her, and with a grin she tilted her head to the chair beside her. He took a seat.

"I'm really sorry about that," she began. "I'm Sarah," she said, offering her hand.

"Chuck," he replied, shaking hers and swearing electricity shot through his hand. "And your right, I can talk Star something but I can talk other things as well." He was grinning to let her know he was teasing.

She looked away with a modicum of embarrassment on her face. She turned back to him. "Really, I'm sorry. Jill convinced me I needed to come on this date. She kept describing Bryce and I finally asked her why didn't she date him."

"I asked Bryce the same thing about Jill," Chuck replied with a grin. He picked up his glass of water. "To surviving the night."

"Surviving the night," Sarah replied, clinking her glass to his. "I hope you like Italian. Apparently Jill told him I did and that's why we're here."

"Nothing wrong with carbing up every now and again," Chuck replied. "Pharmaceuticals, huh?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "You ever do something you're good at, just not what you want to do?" Chuck nodded. "What did you do?"

Chuck grinned for a second. "During the summer I used to work at the Buy More as a Nerd Herder. I repaired a LOT of computers. I'm good at it, I just…the job was a dead end."

"So now you make apps and video games?"

"And other educational software," Chuck replied. "That doesn't get as much press though. We're offering it for free, so I make the other stuff to make sure we can survive."

Sarah put down her water. "Wait? Who are you giving these programs to?"

"Schools," Chuck said with a shrug. "A lot of them with low income kids who parents haven't been to college."

"You should be marketing that everywhere!" Sarah replied. "Listen, people will respect that and buy your other products even if they don't use it, just to help out. Chuck, you could even sell a version that costs ten or fifteen dollars more, with the disclaimer the money goes toward creating and providing educational content for children."

Chuck was grinning at her. "I thought you didn't like what you did?"

She gave him a look, and he thought for a second she was going to swat him. "I don't like marketing drugs, but what you're doing, that's the kind of work…well…I wish someone had done stuff like that for me when I was in school."

Chuck started to ask her more about that when Bryce and Jill walked in together. Chuck raised an eyebrow in Sarah's direction and she just grinned and shook her head.

}o{

The small talk had begun between the four, and the meal were ordered. It was a family style restaurant so they decided on a couple of dishes and a salad and went from there. There had been a lull in the conversation for a few minutes, and Chuck noticed Jill and Bryce were talking softly to each other.

"So what grades?" Sarah asked him.

"Hmmm?" he asked, turning towards her.

"What grades do you aim the software at?" Sarah asked him.

"I have some aimed at elementary, some at middle, and some at high school," Chuck replied.

Sarah was shaking her head. "I wish more people cared like you do."

"That's our motto you know," Bryce said to Sarah. She turned to him. He was beaming his smile at her. "We're the company that cares."

"We are," Chuck agreed trying not to laugh at Bryce. Bryce hated that tagline, but here Bryce was using it to try and impress Sarah. Chuck looked over at Jill, he realized he hadn't spent a lot of time getting to know her, but she seemed quite happy talking with Bryce. "Bryce really cares."

Jill giggled, and Bryce turned to her. Chuck and Sarah shared a look and just shook their heads.

"I'm really glad we did this," Bryce said.

Chuck nodded. "Yeah. Listen…you two…" Chuck looked over at Sarah, who nodded. "You two seem like you're having a better time together-"

"Which we're both fine with," Sarah said, backing Chuck. Chuck nodded. "What we're trying to say is, you both seem to have a bit of a crush or something for the other. Why don't you two go see if there's something there. I'm okay with, are you?" she asked turning to Chuck.

"Jill, he's done nothing but talk about you for weeks, and not in the, you'll like her because of this kind of way, it's more of the, man, she does this thing where.." Chuck trailed off and Jill looked over at Bryce.

"And Bryce, Jill has done the same thing." Bryce glanced at Jill. "It's fine, really."

"Are you sure?" Bryce asked, looking at Jill.

"Positive," Chuck replied. "Jill, really, it was lovely to meet you, but…"

"Just wasn't right, was it?" Jill asked. Chuck shook his head.

"Listen, I'm paying for this," Bryce insisted. "I ruined it." Chuck held up his hands, grinning and Bryce returned the grin. "You never do turn down a free meal do you, Buddy?"

"Don't stay out too late," Chuck said to Bryce as he got up to leave.

"Yes, Mom." The two walked off, leaving Chuck and Sarah alone.

"So, about that software," Sarah began.

* * *

A/N: Part of me REALLY wants to keep this going but I have so many others. I hope you enjoyed it.

DC


	4. The Coffee Shop

A/N: I asked Facebook what they wanted and they said they wanted something about them meeting and falling in love. Now that…that I can do. Ch 4, The Coffee Shop

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

* * *

"And the name for the order?" the barista asked him.

"Chuck," he replied. Her lips twitched, trying not to smile. "What can I say, my parents were sadists." She smiled, and he knew it was worth the self-deprecating shot at himself. His phone rang. "I gotta get this."

"I'll have your Earl Grey Tea in a second…Chuck."

"Thanks," Chuck replied and answered the phone. "Hey, Jill. You never called last night, is everything okay? I mean…yeah, I can tell Ellie not tonight. I get it. No. Uh, I mean, we're still getting married right? I'm not trying to be smothering, but we got engaged, you said yes, and I want to tell Ellie the good news. Okay, okay. I get it. Yeah. Love…Hello? Jill." He hung up and turned around. She tried not to let him see the sadness in her face, but it wasn't hidden as well as she thought apparently. "We just got engaged, and she's a little nervous, that's all. Everyone goes through it, right?"

"Yeah," she said, trying to lift his spirits. "You okay, Chuck?"

"Yeah," he said, making a face of 'pffbth'. "I'm great. See you tomorrow, or whenever you work again and I'm here, I guess," he said widening his eyes.

She gave a soft snort. "Yeah, tomorrow." She watched him leave. It was forty-five minutes later when a brunette woman and man came in, giggling. They looked to be in love. She took their order. "Jill," she said. "Bryce," he replied. They snuck a glance at each other and grinned. Something burned in the pit of Sarah's stomach and she didn't know why.

}o{

Three days later, Chuck came in, accompanied by the same guy she saw with the woman three days earlier. The man named Bryce ordered and then went to the restroom while Chuck paid for both orders.

"You two close?" she asked, giving him his change.

"Yeah, we've known each other since college, roommates," he replied.

"Did your fiance ever meet your sister, Jane was it?" she asked him.

He gave a small smile and shook his head. "No, it's Jill, and she thinks maybe we should take a break."

"A break? What does that mean?"

"She says it's a lot and she needs to be sure, which, I get." She nodded, and headed to get their orders. She was writing the names on the cups when she decided she had to do something. It wasn't much, but it needed to be done. She wrote, "it's all gonna work out, trust me." The cup holder slipped up to cover it. It was possible he'd never see it. They took their orders and went to a corner and worked. She noticed him slide the cup holder down at one point as his brow furrowed. He read it while the other one was talking, not paying attention to Chuck. She swore she saw him smile a little bit. When they left, Bryce left first and as Chuck reached the door, he looked back in her direction, and she saw him mouth, "I do."

}o{

She hadn't seen him in nearly a week when the two brunettes walked in together. She took their order and the woman went to the restroom while the man paid. "So, Sarah, you seeing anyone?"

"What about your girlfriend that was just here?" Sarah asked.

Bryce shrugged. "You seem like an upgrade," he replied.

"So you stab your college roommate and friend in the back and take his fiance and tell me I'm an upgrade? Some friend." His mouth dropped open.

"Wait, you don't understand," he began.

"I understand that you are the worst excuse for a friend," Sarah replied, turned, and began to make their order. She handed it to them, without another word. She watched them leave and thought about what she had said. She wasn't much of a friend either.

}o{

She knocked on the door and heard his voice say, "Come in!" She had asked around at the coffee shop and figured out where he worked. She had gotten a couple of the muffins he always ordered, a cup of tea and headed to his office. She couldn't say quiet, now that she knew for sure. She opened the door and he looked up, a pencil between his teeth that fell to his desk. She burst out laughing.

"I had no idea you delivered," he said, trying to figure out what was going on here.

"I'm here because I haven't been the best of friends," Sarah replied.

"We're friends?" Chuck asked, and shook his head. "I'm sorry, that came out all wrong."

"No, it's okay, it's just, I really need to tell you something, and I'm not sure how you'll take it." He stood up, and offered her a seat. She took it, and handed him the bag and the tea. He sat down, intrigued by what she had to say.

"Your…friend…has come in twice with a short brunette woman named Jill," she began. Chuck slumped forward putting his elbows on the desk, his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, Chuck."

"No, it's not your fault," Chuck muttered. He looked up at her. "You ever just see the signs of stuff and you ignore it?" She nodded. "That's what I did with them."

"Why would they do this to you?" Sarah asked.

"Because I own 51 percent of the company and they each own 24.5," Chuck replied.

"Oh my God," she said softly. The door burst open and there stood Jill looking mad.

"What is she doing here?!" she demanded. "Bryce has already told me how she hit on him earlier!"

Chuck gave Sarah a look. "You might need a tetanus shot," he muttered. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

"Tell her to leave!"

"Fine," Chuck said never taking his eyes off of Sarah. "Jill, leave."

"I mean her," Jill said, Bryce now coming in to join them.

"You now, I have to cover a late shift tonight, so maybe I should go," Sarah said.

"Thank you," Chuck said softly. She stood up and so did he, watching her leave.

}o{

Sarah was getting ready to lock the door for the night, when she saw someone standing just on the other side of the door. She opened it, and stood there, grinning at him. "I'm closing up, but you can come in if you like."

"Will the boss be okay with that?" Chuck asked.

"Let me ask her," Sarah replied. "Hey, Sarah, you okay with Chuck being in here while you close?" She waited a beat. "I'm good with it," she said. She looked Chuck in the eye, her face as sober as she could make it. "She's okay with it."

Chuck came in. "Pretty cool boss you have," he said. He looked over at the sign in the window that said Help Wanted. "Think you could put in a good word with her about me working here?"

"Don't you have a job?" she asked.

Chuck shook his head and began to sit, and then stopped, not sure if it was okay. She gestured for him to sit and she joined him. "I got bought out today, made a pretty hefty sum. The good news is, I never wrote down a lot of my ideas so I get to keep them. I have a no compete clause for six months, so I thought I'd find something to do during that time so I don't make all these things in my head at my house and not be able to put them on the market for awhile."

"So this is temporary?" she was grinning at him.

"Isn't it for you?" he replied with his own grin.

"Until the boss pisses me off," she replied.

Chuck gave her a sad smile. "You know what sucks the most?" She shuck her head. "I knew we didn't love each other anymore or maybe we never really did, I don't know…but it still hurts." Sarah nodded. "I don't know a lot about coffee, but I'm a good guy who treats others right. If you're looking for that and someone who will do the job, I'm your guy."

"You're too good of a guy," she said, squeezing his forearm. "Okay, when can you start."

Chuck blew out his cheeks. "I appear to have a wide open schedule."

"Tomorrow, be here at seven," Sarah said, shaking a finger.

"My goodness, you are a tough one," he said, standing. He paused. "You were right you know. Everything is gonna be okay." She grinned at him. "Also, thank you for the one today that said 'I'm here for you.' I know you barely know me, but I believe you."

}o{

It was a few weeks later that she handed him a cup and he pulled down the cup holder, looking for a message. "I'm proud of you," it said. He looked over at her. "Why?"

"You took the high road in that whole mess, Chuck. I would have torched that place to the ground when I left, or refused to leave and make them leave." She gave him a shoulder bump. "You're a good guy Chuck Bartowski."

}o{

A few months later, she handed him a cup with a sad smile on her face. He slid the cup holder down and the writing said, "I'm sorry." "I really am," she said softly.

"What do you have to be sorry about?" he asked.

"I ran them off," she began. "Those two women?" He looked confused. "Oh my God, Bartowski, they were flirting with you HARD."

"Really," Chuck replied and shrugged. He took a sip and watched her the entire time. When he lowered the cup he just grinned. "Good thing I got a friend like you to make sure I'm not getting taken advantage of because I'm on the rebound."

"Yeah," she said softly. "That's me, a good friend." He took another sip, and she fled.

}o{

It was a few months later Chuck came in with a spring in his step. "I've been thinking," he began when the crowd had died down. "I think it's time I start dating again. What do you think?"

He watched her stiffen as he said it and then she turned to him slowly. "I think it's time for your tea." He watched her write on his cup, and he could see her grin. She filled it and slowly pushed it toward him, a smirk on her face. He dropped the cup holder and it said, "Would you go out with me?"

"Oh, Sarah, I can't," he said looking up, concern on his face. He reached under the counter and pulled out their manual. "See, right here, it says the owner cannot date the employees, that could be considered you having power over me." She was swallowing, trying to keep back the emotion. "So, I guess there's only one thing for me to do."

"What's that?" she asked softly.

"Quit," he replied, a smirk on his face. "So will you be picking me up?" She wadded up a napkin and threw it in his face. "So you want me to drive?" She threw another napkin at him. "Uber?" She stepped across the distance, grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. She eventually let him go. "Obviously your driving," he croaked out.

* * *

A/N: Fluff levels satisfied? Reviews, like readers, are a treasure. Leave one if you would.

David


	5. The Flower Shop

A/N: I asked everyone on Facebook what they want updated, I got multiple answers and no one suggested this one. So why am I doing it? I have no idea, to be a jerk I guess….

Something I would like to quickly address. Many have worried that I won't finish fics because I have so many….uh, no. I have Asperger's and not completing things makes my skin itch. I am finishing all my fics, and my hope is things slow down a minute this summer to get one to three more knocked out. This one I consider a "whenever". Kinda the same way with College except it has a plot….(but does it?) Anyway, hope you enjoy Ch 5, The Flower Shop

Disclaimer: I have no ownership of the property of Chuck

* * *

"No, Ellie," Chuck said, leaning against the counter and talking into the phone. "I sent them on a date." Chuck was giving the family-owned floral store one last look-over before beginning to close up shop. "I know, Ellie," he said rolling his eyes. "I should go back to college, but it's kind'a nice working here with mom and dad." He listened a second, then laughed. "Yeah, Morgan may have delivered that today without us knowing it."

He looked up as the door hesitantly swung open, the bells attached to the top tinkling softly. "Hey, I have a customer… love you, I'll talk to you later." He watched as the woman walked toward him, suddenly and unexpectedly enchanted by her eyes.

"That was my sister, Ellie," Chuck blurted, pointing to the phone. He swallowed. Why did he find it necessary to tell her that?

"Well, it's good to tell your sister that you love her," the woman replied, twisting her lips as if fighting a grin.

"Chuck," he said, holding out his hand. GAH! Why was he doing this?

"Sarah," she replied, losing the smirking battle. "Are you always so personal with your customers?"

"No," he replied, and wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground and just die. He had to get control of himself. "No, but when you came in… I don't know, it just seemed like you were having a bad day, and I wanted to help make it better."

"Do you help all your-" She began, but was cut off, as a frantic man ran in.

"I'm so sorry to cut in, but… I didn't tape my daughter's dance recital."

"Wha…?" Chuck asked, confused.

"I didn't realize you needed tape to digitally record," the father explained.

Chuck's eyebrows shot up. "How much?"

"How much what?"

"How much are you wanting to spend?" Chuck asked.

"I got 50 cash," the man said, slapping it on the counter.

Chuck looked over at Sarah, who shrugged and gave him a head nod. He turned back to the man. "Give me five minutes." Chuck walked off, then returned with an arrangement of flowers.

"Those aren't roses," the man began.

Chuck held up his hand to forestall the man's objection, shaking his head. "Listen to me, this is what we called the 'Please Don't Divorce Me' bouquet. Anyone can get roses. But what _you_ did was realize how badly you messed up, and you decided to make things right."

"Okay, okay" the dad said, listening.

"Calla lilies stand for humility and devotion," Chuck began, pointing to them. "With their unmatched beauty, they are the ideal apology flower for your wife." He then pointed to the white flowers. "Tulips show new beginnings, peace, and forgiveness: White Tulips are happy flowers that can help you say sorry, and make up for the mistake."

"You're a genius," he said, snatching the flowers and running out the door. Chuck shrugged, and rang up the purchase.

"You really know your flowers," Sarah said. "And, you know your stuff." She paused and then put a $20 bill on the counter. "How do I passive-aggressively tell my ex, and I'm not sure he's aware of his 'ex' status just yet, that we are _so_ over?" Chuck studied her for a moment. "Something wrong?" she asked.

"I'm just wondering if I make this for you that he'll have the mental capacity to understand it, since he has already done something dumb enough to make you dump him," Chuck explained.

"He cheated on me," Sarah replied.

Chuck shook his head. "I mean… why?" Sarah's eyes widened, as did Chuck's, as he realized the words that just came out of his mouth. He began to turn red. "What I mean is… well… why?"

"I have no idea, but I really would like your help in creating the snarkiest, most petty arrangement ever." Chuck grinned, steepled his fingers, and cracked them. He went around the counter, locked the door and turned to her.

She had raised a perfectly arched eyebrow, and Chuck realized he had just locked her in with him. "Murder people much?"

"Oh, no… No! I, uh, I was gonna have you join me in the back so I can explain it while I make it, but now I see that this looks bad, and to be fair, I was just thinking about how this might be cathartic for you to see what it is we're doing and-" Sarah stepped forward and took his hand.

"Hey," she said softly, and he stopped mid-freak out. "Thank you, that's sweet."

"Golly gee, ma'am, thanks," he replied, grinning. She rolled her eyes. "Would you care to join me in making an arrangement?"

"Sure," she chirped and followed him into the back.

"So," he said, clapping his hands together, we need geraniums for stupidity-"

"Wait, I like geraniums," she began.

Chuck turned to her. "Sarah, the secret of flowers is, they mean whatever you want them to mean. If you think a flower is pretty, and will make someone happy, then that's why you should give it. People give flowers all the time to "mean" something, but sometimes, it's just to make someone smile."

"I like that."

"Yeah," Chuck replied. "But today, we are being highly passive-aggressive." Sarah grinned. "You ready?" She nodded. "So, we will also add Foxglove for insincerity, Meadowsweet for uselessness, Yellow Carnations for 'you have disappointed me' and Orange Lilies for hatred. It will be quite striking, and full of loathing."

"What about Belladonna?" Sarah asked.

Chuck turned to her slowly. "You know that's deadly nightshade, right?" Sarah nodded, grinning. "That's wandering past the passive-aggressive exit, and driving on down Interstate Snarky to aggressive-aggressive." Sarah barked a laugh. "But we have now come to what I consider the most important part of giving of flowers: The card."

"Do you have an idea of what I should say?"

Chuck thought for a moment and nodded solemnly. "With not a lot of room on the card, two words come to mind." Her eyebrows raised. Chuck shook his head. "I feel those two words you're thinking of are a little _too_ aggressive."

"How do you know the words I'm thinking of?"

"You're thinking them so loud, people five miles away can hear them," Chuck replied, trying to appear serious. Sarah barked another laugh. "These two words, however, really fit."

"What are they?"

"Get bent," Chuck replied. Sarah had to hold onto his arm, she was laughing so hard.

}o{

The door opened, and Sarah walked in as Chuck looked up from the counter. It was the following day, and Chuck had refused her money, stating a 'friends, family, and pissed-off-parts-of-a-couple-trying-to-get-even' discount. He did say she had to give him her address, so that he could add her to the mailing list. She did so, giving him a look saying she knew what he was up to.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," he replied. "How'd things go with the ex?"

"Oh, he's long gone," Sarah replied. "But the strangest thing happened today."

"Oh, really," Chuck replied, trying to play innocent.

"Mmmhmm," she said, putting an elbow on the counter and placing her chin on her hand. "I got 13 orange roses delivered to me today."

Chuck copied her pose, grinning at her. "And you're here to find out what it means?"

"Nope… I'm here to bribe you into telling me who sent them to me," she replied, smirking. "Thirteen can mean a secret admirer, and orange means desire and excitement."

"Ooooo," Chuck said. "Someone likes you," he said in a sing-song voice.

"If I take you to dinner, will you tell me?"

"Haven't you ever heard of florist-client confidentiality?" Chuck asked, trying to appear shocked that she would suggest such a thing.

"Doesn't exist," she retorted.

"Have you considered that maybe if you take me to dinner, you might become so enthralled with me that you might not care who sent you those flowers?" Chuck hit her with the eyebrow dance.

"Have you considered, that I considered, that you are the person who sent them to me?"

"Have you considered, that I considered-" he stopped talking because she was kissing him. She pulled away and grinned at him.

"What time do you close?"

"I have no idea, because I'm leaving right now," he replied. "Mom," he called over his shoulder. "I'm heading out."

"Bye!" she yelled from the back room. Mary walked in and saw Sarah. "Oh!"

"Hi, Mrs. Bartowski, I'm taking your son out on a date."

"How modern of you," Mary replied with a grin. "Do you need any flowers for him? They're on the house."

"Do you have any salmon roses?" Sarah asked with a grin.

"Oh… those mean the same as orange…" she looked over at her son who was turning an interesting shade of red. "But I think you know that." Sarah held her hand out, and Chuck took it, coming from around the corner and the two heading for the door. "Can you have him back tomorrow by three in the afternoon?" Mary asked. "If not, I can cover his shift."

"MOM!"

"Fine," Mary said, smiling broadly. "I'll cover it. Don't hurt him."

"MOM!"

"Bye," Sarah said, laughing as she pulled him out of the shop.

A/N: Ah, that was fun. Reviews and PMs greatly appreciated.

DC


	6. When Chuck Met Sarah

A/N: Nate-Silver-Black on tumblr put out a post about best friends turning into lovers when both chance thought there was no chance of it happening. Dear God has there ever been ANYTHING more in my wheel house? ANYTHING? I nearly fleshed this out into it's own fic, but I still have a good four or five going on so I didn't. Hope you enjoy.

A/N 2: I have a four or five fics going and I promised myself this year I'd get that number down to 2 or 3 (I don't count the Chuckquinn ones because who knows when that maniac is going to stroll into town) This one could be very long and huge. But it would be no spying, no Intersect, just a freaking angsty love story that we all know where it would go. That's why I didn't….after a good hour of talking myself out of it. If you guys REALLY want it, it would be a bit. I've got two with my eye on how to finish….you know even my beta laughed at the one shot idea….

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

* * *

"Happy Birthday, Chuck."

That's what she said, as she presented him with his "cake." Since they met almost 20 years ago, on each birthday, she gave him a cupcake with a single candle placed in the middle.

"What do you wish for?" she asked. "For us to not to have made that promise?" There was amusement on her face, but something else was there… sorrow? Sadness?

"I'm sure of all the 'arranged' marriages in the world, being married to your best friend isn't the worst," he replied. She shoved his shoulder the way she always did, and gave him _his_ smile. In the 20 years he had known her, no one else ever got that smile; only him.

}o{

They were eight when they first met. Sarah had moved in next door with her mother Emma, and Sarah was furious. She wanted to go with her dad. But the courts had found Jack unfit, especially after he changed her name from Jenny Burton to Sarah Walker. She refused to change it back to Jenny… at eight… that was Sarah. Stubborn, but fiercely loyal.

That's how the play wedding had come about. The one that was still on video tape from when they were eight, and had been converted to DVD. Chuck and Sarah both had a copy and watched it often, the other never knowing…

They were best friends. They had been inseparable. The night Emma was rushed to the hospital and Sarah stayed over… she slept in Chuck's bed with him, two friends holding each other. As they got older, they would nap together, in a platonic cuddle.

When Jimmy Reed had broken Sarah's heart, dumping her when she was 14, and she worried she would never be married because guys were awful, he promised her if she wasn't married by 28, he'd marry her.

She would sneak into his bedroom at night through the 'Sarah window', as everyone called it, when she needed to talk. Whether it was about her dad being in jail, her fight with her mom, or just why all her girlfriends were just bitches.

She had made him practice kissing on her, until she deemed him a good enough kisser to go to the high school prom. When that night had ended in disaster, she had held him as he cried, the two of them sitting on the beach watching the waves.

They had gone to the same college, and nothing had changed. The night after she first had sex, she called him. They walked the campus for hours, neither saying a word; just the others' company was enough. Each wishing the other had been their first, but never admitting it, for fear of ruining their friendship.

Their senior year in college found them at a party together, both wondering why no one else wanted to go out with them. Bryce told them that everyone assumed they were in a long-term relationship. That night, the two got drunk, and ended up back at Chuck's dorm room. He and Sarah griped about everyone, and both said maybe they should just be together. They began to drunkenly make out, and who knows what would have happened if Chuck's roommate hadn't stumbled in. They spent the night together, but nothing happened… other than each wondering why they weren't together.

The next day they both apologized to the other, and they each swore to help the other find someone. They graduated, found jobs, and went apartment hunting. It just so happened Echo Park had two open units, and there they both lived. When they were single, Friday nights were movie night, Saturday nights were dance night, and Sunday was dinner. Neither wanted to admit to the other that most nights they went on dates with others were during the week, because they couldn't bear not having the weekend to see each other.

After a bad day, conversations by the water fountain were the norm. They normally shopped for groceries together, but if they didn't, and one saw something the other wanted, they immediately texted or called to see if they should pick it up.

When filling out paperwork, Chuck always asked her his blood type, social security number, or any of the other various things that he should know.

It took her breakup with Bryce to finally push him over the edge. After Chuck spent the night consoling her after the breakup, and she spent the night snuggled against him in his bed, Chuck searched for and found Bryce.

"Why in the hell would you cheat on her, Bryce?" Chuck asked, stopping himself from shoving Bryce, but just barely.

"Because she was never faithful to me," Bryce replied.

"Bullshit, she never cheated on you. She never had sex with any other dude!"

"Chuck, it wasn't sexual fidelity… she loves someone else, man," Bryce explained, shaking his head. "But you can't see it, or won't believe it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Dude, she's in love with _you_."

That had been two months ago, and Chuck hadn't dated since. He watched her when they were together; how she was tactile with him, how others would look at them and think they were a couple. Could it be true? Could she really feel for him the way he did for her?

}o{

"Cheer up, it's not binding," Chuck joked. She twisted her lips and gave her head a shake. "I get it, being married to me must sound awful," he teased.

"No, it wouldn't be," she said softly. "I'd be married to my best friend." The silence enveloped them, and for once in this situation, he wasn't worried. He wasn't nervous. "Now, what can I do for you for your birthday?"

"Normal parameters?" Chuck asked.

"Normal parameters," she said with a grin.

"Go out with me," he said softly.

"Sure, where," she chirped.

"No, Sarah," he said, locking eyes with her. "For one night, just one… go out with _me_."

"Chuck," she began.

"I love you," he blurted out.

She grinned and placed a hand on his chest. "And I love you-"

"No," he said covering her hand with his. "I love _you_." She was silent. "I know you are way out of my league-"

"I will kick your ass if you ever say that again," she nearly growled.

"Noted, but I know we've never broached this subject." He swallowed.

"What if we ruin what we have?" Sarah asked.

"How?" Chuck asked her. "If you don't feel that way about me, just say so, and I will drop it right now. Right. Now." She didn't say anything, and he took a step toward her. "I have an idea."

"I'm listening," she replied.

"Let's try something we've tried in the past, except we're not teenagers anymore, and we're not drunk."

"You want to kiss me and see if there's something?" she asked. Chuck nodded, and then waited patiently. "Kiss me, Chuck." The way she said it, she sounded a little out of breath.

He kissed her gently, but within a second that was out the window. She grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him in. He ran his tongue against hers, and thought if a bomb went off, he wouldn't care.

She pulled away for a second, searching his eyes. "Why the hell did we wait so long?" she asked, and dove back in. She began to pull him toward the bed, and he stopped her.

"What?" she asked, a mischievous grin on her face. "Am I too much for you?"

"Always," he replied, a grin on his face. "But I asked for a date."

"You want a date?" Sarah asked and glanced at the bed.

"Yeah," he said. "Sarah, I'm greedy. I want it all with you."

"I'm a mess, Chuck, you know that," she replied.

"I know, and yet I love you."

"You keep saying that I'm going to hold you to your offer," she said smiling.

"I really do want the date," Chuck replied. She sat up, ran her hand down the side of his face.

"I was talking about what you have to do now that your 28," she said, bouncing her eyebrows at him.

}o{

"Okay, this is weird," Sarah said, sitting across from him at the Mexican restaurant.

"What, being out with me?" Chuck asked.

"No, not that, it's just… you know how you go on the first date with someone, and all that… stuff that happens?"

"Yeah, we're so past that."

Sarah grinned at him. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Do you not?" he asked, worry clouding his face. "I mean, if you don't want to go one step further, then it's back to us being how we were."

"Chuck," she said softly. "You love me. You can't go back from that." The teasing lilt in her voice just made him grin.

"You know, I'm wondering if you didn't tell me you love me at the apartment. Really love me," he teased back.

"You wish," she said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Yeah, I do," he admitted. She froze. "God, Sarah… I mean what are we both looking for? Someone we trust, that cares about us, that is there for the other in the worst times?" Tears were in her eyes, but she nodded. "We've done all the hard stuff, the only thing we're missing, is the fun stuff."

"But what if… what if it doesn't work out?"

"But what if it does?" Chuck asked. He looked around, and leaned forward. "And don't forget… I know all your kinky little wants." She swatted him on the shoulder good naturedly and made a face at him. "All we have to do is remember that when something goes wrong, we talk to our best friend."

"This sounds really easy," Sarah said.

"Did you just call me easy?" Chuck asked. Sarah giggled. "I mean I'm not saying I'm not…" She began to laugh out loud. "It's your call."

She wiped her eyes, tears having formed from laughing so hard. "Okay," she said, and with a short nod, she scooted around the booth until she was sitting beside him. She lifted his arm and put it around her shoulders, snuggling against him. "Doesn't feel any different." Chuck curled his finger, tucked it under her chin, gently lifted her face, and kissed her lips, sweetly. "Okay, _that_ was different," she admitted, after he pulled away.

"Different bad?"

"No, Baby. Different perfect."

}o{

She opened the door to his apartment like she always did. She'd had a key from the first day he moved in, and he had one for hers. She turned toward him as he shut the door, shoving him against it. "Happy birthday, Chuck," she said sultrily, as she pushed him against the door, kissing him as if it was her job.

"Second best birthday ever!" Chuck exclaimed as she moved away. She began to shake as she laughed, giving him an amused look.

"Chuck, that was some random dude in a Darth Vader outfit," Sarah said, putting her hands on her hips. "You're telling me that is better than this?"

"I mean, adult Chuck says no, this is better… 11 year-old Chuck…" he pressed his lips together and widened his eyes, making her laugh. She took his hand, and led him to the bedroom. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I think maybe it's time we leave 11 year-old Chuck out here, and adult Chuck and Sarah have some adult time," Sarah replied. He stopped walking, still holding her hand, and she danced back to him.

"I think a lot has happened between us today, and I think that we should consider slowing down and just letting this… rest. Is that the right word?"

"I mean if we're doing it right, we're cooking with gas," Sarah said, raising her hand, and Chuck giving her five. "Fine, but I'm staying here, because that's what we do, and I'm cuddling."

"Okay," Chuck replied.

"I might get handsy," Sarah admitted.

Chuck leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. "I hate to break it too you, but you've always been handsy."

"You liked it."

"Yeah, I did, and I do." She looked into his eyes and neither saw the fear that they expected to be there. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For taking so long to trust you with my biggest secret," Chuck said softly. "For not believing in us. For not telling you I love you all those times I realized it."

"I thought you said you wanted this to rest?"

"Can't resist me, can you?" Chuck asked. She backed away and held up one finger. She walked over to his bookshelf and pulled out a worn-out comic. It was the one she gave him for the first birthday she had known him. She handed it to him, a grin on her face. Chuck opened it, and a card fell out. He bent down to get it, saw it was her handwriting, and opened it.

_Chuck,_

_For your birthday I'm going to give you something, I'm giving you the truth. I love you. Not just as my best friend, but I love you. I can't bring myself to tell you to your face because I'm scared. What if you don't feel the same way about me? What if you don't want to try because it could ruin what we have? I left this here because I know today, like every year, you'll pull this comic out and read it. It's your call, Buddy. Whatever you __decide__, I love you._

_Sarah_

Chuck looked up at her, tears in his eyes. "You know I don't really like Care Bears, right?"

"Chuck, for God's sake, I was eight, it was a comic book. How many times do I have to apologize?" They both smiled at the running joke, now on its 20th year. "Come on, let's go to bed."

}o{

"Did you two have your normal pre-birthday night celebration?" Ellie asked Chuck and Sarah.

"It was a little different this year," Sarah said. "Ellie, how do you make this better every year?"

"Bartowski secret, you'd have to be one. Sorry, Sarah," Ellie said.

Sarah turned to Chuck. "I'm calling in the marker," Sarah said, making everyone laugh, knowing their marriage deal as teenagers.

"So, let me get this straight," Chuck began. "Finding out Ellie's secret receipt is what it takes to get you to marry me?" Ellie stopped, stunned. This wasn't normal. Chuck nodded. "Sounds fair." Sarah turned back to Ellie, innocence all over her face.

"Is that good enough, or do we need to go elope?" Sarah asked.

"Wait," Ellie began, as Chuck and Sarah began laughing. Ellie mocked glared at both of them. "I hate you both."

"Ellie, we've only been dating a day, I think marriage is a bit much," Sarah said, grinning at her. Ellie's eyes went wide.

"So, wait a week?" Chuck asked.

"Two," Sarah replied. "Holding out for better offers." Chuck began to laugh, but Sarah turned to him, serious. "I'm sorry, there would be no better offers, no matter who asked." Chuck smiled at her, and she gave him _his_ smile.

"Oh my God," Ellie said softly. Sarah reached in her pants pocket, handing Chuck a pair of ear plugs, and another to Devon. "Oh my God," she said a little louder. All three stuck their earplugs in.

}o{

"Wow," Sarah said, catching her breath and snuggling against him. "I mean, I have laughed during sex, but always because what happened was so bad."

"I'll take that as a compliment?"

"Chuck, my best friend loves me, and is amazing in bed," she said looking up into his eyes. She took his hand that was wrapped around hers, playing with the fingers. "Is this real?"

He kissed the top of her head, making parts of her flutter. "Yeah, it's really real."

"We're really doing this."

"Uh, we done did it," Chuck said, getting a light smack from her. "But yeah, we're doing it, and gonna keep doing it the rest of our lives." She sat up and turned, looking at him. "What?" he asked. "Where else is this going to go?"

She studied him a minute, then shrugged. "Fine, but can we wait a few weeks before we tell Ellie? My ears still hurt." With that she snuggled back against him. "I love you, Chuck. Happy birthday."

"Best one ever," he said softly, kissing the top of her head.

* * *

A/N: Boy I could have made that a bunch of chapters but…too many out there. DC


	7. The Car

A/N: Listen, if you're looking for something serious, keep going. After that angst monster WCMS, it may be fluff for now until forever. A new take on two people running into each other...literally.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

* * *

Sarah Walker walked out of the Weinerlicious, huffing. What the hell was she doing? She had quit the CIA after the mission with the baby. She just couldn't go on, not after what had happened. Ryker was dead, and she, the baby, and Emma were all currently living in Burbank. She didn't _need_ this job, but she _needed_ to get out of the house. She loved her mom, and her sister… well, she guessed Molly qualified as her sister… but being around them all the time was just too much. She had taken the first job she saw advertised, and was now thinking it was a _very_ bad idea. She knew she could just quit but… she hated quitting things. She never got to finish anything as a kid, because of her life on the run, and now… this was stupid. This was a nowhere job, with no benefits.

She growled in frustration as she got into her Porsche, started it, slammed it into reverse, and then hit the brakes as she heard something thump against her car and then to the ground. She put the Porsche in park, got out, and surveyed the scene. On the ground was a man, roughly her age, tall, and with curly hair. She looked over and saw another guy with something in his hand, looking on in shock. The guy threw her the package, and ran off.

She caught the package and placed it on the roof of the car. She then moved to check on the man on the ground. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you backing up," he said, rolling over and holding his ribs.

"I hit you, why are you apologizing?" Sarah asked. The look on his face, as he was trying to figure out what to say next, made her grin. "Is that your thing, go around waiting for women to hit you with their car?"

"Only on Tuesdays when I don't have a date for Friday night," the man on the ground replied, sitting up.

"Should you be doing that?" Sarah asked. "Both sitting up, and getting hit by cars?"

"I don't think anything's broken," he replied. "And this is the first time my trick really worked." She snorted, and he shook his head, getting his bearings. He looked over at her and, for the first time, managed a really good look at her face. And now, he was staring into her eyes. "Worth it," he said softly, but loud enough for her to hear him. She ducked her head and grinned at him.

"I'm worth getting potentially maimed over?" Sarah asked, a little confused. She had noticed him checking her out. Surely, he couldn't mean that from just looking at her eyes like he was… unless he had a head injury.

"BARTOWSKI! QUIT FLIRTING AND GET THAT SHOPLIFTER!" she heard a booming voice yell.

Chuck winced. "Sorry, Big Mike, got hit by a car. Wasn't watching what I was doing."

"No, I wasn't watching as well as I should have, and I hit you," Sarah countered.

"No, no," Chuck replied, shaking his head. "I shouldn't have been chasing him in a parking lot."

"He's getting away with my game, Bartowski." Sarah got up, grabbed the package and thrust it at Big Mike.

"There, now let me take him to a hospital. He's been injured, doing something for the store," Sarah said. Big Mike looked very nervous.

"Actually, let me go see Ellie, and she can see me on the down-low so this won't be workers' comp," Chuck said. Big Mike nodded and left. Chuck turned to Sarah. "Chuck Bartowski."

"Sarah Walker," she replied. "Now where does your girlfriend work, so I can take you to her. What is she, a doctor?"

"I don't have a girlfriend," Chuck replied. Sarah couldn't quite grasp why she was so happy to hear that. "And yeah, my sister Ellie is a neurosurgeon."

"Oh, good, 'cause I'm afraid you might have hit your head."

"Must have, because I'm seeing a vision right now," he said with a grin. And then his eyes widened as he realized what he'd said, making her giggle. "Jesus, apparently my filter is busted, as well."

"Are you always this funny, or just when trying to get that date for Friday night?" she asked, leading him to the passenger side and watching him fold up into the car.

"I'm not sure I'm that funny," Chuck retorted. "Nice car."

"I used to have a much better job," she replied with a shrug. "Now…" she trailed off and shook her head.

"So you're saying the Weinerlicious _isn't_ the career you dreamed of as a little girl?" Sarah shook her head, chuckling. "Yeah, I didn't dream about working at the Buy More but… here I am."

"It's not very practical to have this car but I can't make myself part with it," she admitted.

"Well, it's not like you have a baby you need to put in the back seat," Chuck began, and then saw the look on her face. "Annnnnd, there I go, putting my whole leg in my mouth. I shouldn't be surprised that you would have a husband and baby."

"I don't have a husband," she said, knowing what that would do to him.

"I've died and gone to my own personal hell, where I say the exact wrong thing every single time," he said, putting his head in his hands. Sarah laughed out loud.

"Chuck, the baby is my adopted sister. I don't have a husband, a boyfriend, or a date for Friday night," she said, grinning at him. "I just moved here with my mom and my sister so…" she trailed off, shaking her head, amusement covering her face.

"So, you don't really know Burbank, huh?" Sarah shook her head. "What if I showed you around? Maybe find someone other than me to hit with your vehicle?" She snorted. "By the way, you're not gonna make me pay for any damage, right?"

"Oh, you vill pay," she said in a bad German accent. Why, she had no idea. In thirty minutes, she had gone from a foul mood to feeling absolutely silly. "I'm really sorry about hitting you with my car," she said again.

"If I was one of those guys, I would use my injury to get you to go out with me on Friday night, by playing up my injury." She chuckled silently. A serious look crossed his face. "Wait, by mentioning the injury, does that make me one of those guys?" Her shoulders were shaking from laughter. "I must have hit my head harder than I thought, because I keep on saying the stupidest things." Sarah just smiled, as she pulled into the hospital parking lot.

}o{

"So he was chasing a thief, and ran into you backing out?" Ellie asked Sarah. Sarah nodded. "I say it's his fault and you should make him clean the car where he bounced off of it."

"Love," Chuck sang, making the two women turn toward him. "I feeeeellll all the love."

"She could have killed you. You need to pay attention," Ellie admonished.

"Ellie, she was barely moving when I hit her, or she hit me. The only thing I had a chance to die from was her beauty." His eyes widened, and so did Ellie's. Sarah started to laugh again. "My God, I have a tumor, right? Why am I saying such things?"

"No tumor, just a case of the stupids," Ellie said, shaking her head at him.

"So, he'll still be alive Friday?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Anyone that will go to the trouble of getting hit by a car to go out with me, they should get the date, right?" The smile on Chuck's face grew. Maybe Burbank wouldn't be so bad after all. In fact, it was looking better and better.

* * *

A/N: I know, I could write a ton on this, but right now I have no story. We'll just leave this alone, because last time you guys got me caught in this OTP, I ended up writing the angstiest thing I ever wrote. Hope you liked it….(But I don't see any angst in this one.) (NO! BAD DAVID! NO MORE NEW FICS!)


	8. The Bookstore

A/N: Famous author has left signed copies of book at bookstore. It's short, but it does the job. Also, I know the last two OTPs have become longer fics. I'm telling you know...NO. You guys are really amazing in all seriousness.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

* * *

"Man, I hope they have a signed copy left," Chuck muttered, walking up to the line. At the same time, a blonde approached from the other direction. Chuck widened his eyes. They had stepped in line at the exact same time, and it was apparent from the look on her face that she wasn't getting behind him.

"Usually, I'd say ladies first, but there are only so many of the signed books, and I'm getting it for my sister's birthday tomorrow."

The blonde woman grinned at him. "Your sister is a huge Steampunk Chuckster fan?"

"She has all of her books," Chuck admitted. "She teases me all the time about my name being Chuck, and the author's name."

"Your name is Chuck?" she asked, grinning.

"My parents were sadists," Chuck replied with a shrug.

"So, we share the spot?" Chuck nodded. She held her hand out. "Sarah." Chuck shook it. "Do you read Steampunk's books?"

"Who, me…? Yes, all the time," he admitted, making her chuckle. "You?"

"I started reading her books in college, and when I heard there was a signed copy today..." She shrugged.

"I get it," Chuck said with a nod. "It's Ellie's favorite writer, and she's… well, she's been more than my sister. My parents left, and she raised me." Chuck looked away, not seeing the look on Sarah's face.

"You know, maybe I should let you have this spot," Sarah began, but Chuck was shaking his head negatively.

"There's only one fair way to do this, you know," Chuck began. Sarah raised her eyebrow at him, intrigued. "You stay where you are, and when we get to the front of the line, and there's only one signed copy left, we race for the book. The first one to get to the cashier and pay for it, wins."

She studied him for a minute, a grin growing on her face. "Is that how you want to play this?"

"I think it's fair," Chuck said. "You're obviously in much better shape, athletically." Chuck realized what he said, winced and hurried on as Sarah snorted. "However, I do have longer legs, and can cover greater distances." Sarah looked at his legs. "Are you checking me out?" he asked in faux shock.

"Just seeing what I'm up against," Sarah replied, grinning.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, again we apologize, we only have a few copies of our signed items left," the announcement came from the store loudspeaker.

Chuck looked up at the line. There was only one person in front of him, and Sarah. He looked at the shelf, and only saw one signed copy left. He was trying to figure out the quickest way to get there, when he felt her close beside him.

"I was," she whispered softly into his ear. He turned to her, eyes wide. "I was checking you out." She reached up and gently moved a curl and then let her fingers trail down his face. "I hope you don't mind."

"Nope," he croaked.

"There's something I'd like to ask you… Chuck."

"Next," they heard, and then Chuck was standing there as if he wore concrete shoes. He looked up, and Sarah was almost to the book. He was off like a shot, and just missed grabbing the book. She let out a playful shriek, and headed toward the cash register, when she felt his hands close on her waist. She was spun, and looked up at him, grinning.

"I guess you caught me," she said as innocently as possible. "Now, what are you gonna do with me?"

Chuck's brain misfired, and Sarah dropped down out of his hands and took off toward the register again. She beat him there, and pulled out her money to pay. Chuck stood there watching her, grinning, and thinking about how much fun he had. He _was_ a little upset about not getting Ellie the book, though. He decided to congratulate Sarah, and go back and get an unsigned book for Ellie. He noticed she was writing something on the receipt as he waited.

She turned around, saw him and smirked. As she walked over toward him, he extended his hand in congratulation. She shoved the book in the outstretched hand. "Other hand," she said. Chuck put out his other hand and she placed the receipt in it.

"You want me to pay you back for the book?" he asked.

"No, silly," she said, laughing. "The book is for your sister. What's on the back of the receipt is for you."

Chuck turned the receipt over. "It's a phone number," he said, a little stunned.

"Yep, it's mine," she responded. Chuck just stared at her.

"Thank you," he said, a little shaken by her gesture.

"I hope she enjoys it, and I hope to hear from you," she said. She began to leave, but stopped right beside him. "Sooner is probably better," she said softly, and walked out the door. As she got to her car, her phone rang. She pulled out her phone and leaned against the car, pressing the 'Accept' button. "Sarah Walker."

"Oh, good. I didn't know your last name," Chuck began. "I'm Chuck Bartowski… the guy for whom you just did an incredibly nice thing."

"Hmmm," she replied as if pondering.

"The one whose ass and legs you were checking out, and curls you were playing with," he added.

"I wasn't _playing_ with them," she retorted. "Do they always have a mind of their own like that?"

"Yep," he replied, making her snort. She heard him take a deep breath. "How do you feel about Mexican food?"

"I'm good with it," Sarah replied. "Just so we're clear, are you asking me to eat Mexican food with you? Because I am currently broke, having spent all my money on a book," she teased.

"Yes, Sarah Walker, I am asking you out on a date," Chuck replied, coming out of the bookstore and seeing her leaning against her car. "But all I have is my company car so… can you drive?"

"I think something can be arranged," she said, hanging up and grinning as she saw him walking towards her.

* * *

A/N: I really like these OTPs.


	9. The Bad Date

A/N: I've had several ask for a one shot fluff piece so here it is, unbetaed. I apologize for any mistakes. I hope this makes you smile.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

* * *

Chuck pulled his phone out of his pants, and using skills he had mastered at the Buy More, shot a text off to Ellie, never looking at the phone, looking at his date the entire time.

**I****'m going to murder you.**

**She won****'t shut up!**

**I****'m going to talk about Jill, that's the only way she'll go away.**

Chuck felt his phone buzz and glanced down.

**NO YOU AREN****'T**

**Brenda is a nice person**

Chuck shoved his phone back in his pocket all while having a fake smile on his face, and listening her to continue on about her job at the bookstore.

"Hi, I'm Sarah, and I will be your waitress this evening, can I start you off with a drink?" The waitress asked. Brenda ignored her, and as Chuck looked up at her, he saw Sarah roll her eyes at his date. Chuck managed to not laugh.

"Oh, nothing for me please, I'll feel bloated with beer, and wine does funny things to my head," Brenda said.

Chuck turned toward the waitress, his eyes wide, the fake smile stuck on his face. "I'd like something, anything you'd recommend?"

"I could just surprise you," Sarah replied.

"Oh you don't want that," Brenda said. "There's no telling how bad it would taste."

"I'm feeling adventurous," Chuck countered. Sarah grinned at him.

"One drink coming up, do you want to order now?"

"I need a few minutes," Brenda said.

"I guess we need a few minutes," Chuck confirmed. Sarah nodded and walked away.

"She's obviously one of those," Brenda said.

"One of those what?" Chuck asked.

"You know, blondes that are here trying to find an acting job. She'll probably end up in porn or something before it's over, or maybe a high price call girl," Brenda said disgustedly, while flipping through the menu.

"Oh look, I got a text from work," Chuck lied. "Let me go call them, but not here, because that would be rude."

"Whatever," Brenda said, looking through the menu. Chuck stood and headed toward the bathrooms, knowing no where else to go.

"Running?" he heard a voice say. He turned and there was the waitress. "There's a phone over here to make calls, since I'm sure that's what you're doing right now," she said, grinning at him.

"You ever get set up on a blind date by your sister?" Chuck asked, following Sarah.

"Oh, God, that sounds horrible," Sarah said, laughing. "Need help getting out of the date?"

"I'd love it, but my sister would murder me," Chuck said. He began to chuckle while he was holding the receiver, while Sarah was making a drink. "You ever see _Another Thin Man_? I'd love to do something like that but my sister's a doctor."

"Oh, that's even better," Sarah said. "Is your date a doctor?"

"No," Chuck replied. "It's one of her non-doctor friends.

"What's your sister's name?" Sarah inquired.

"Ellie," Chuck replied. "But I can't, I really can't."

Sarah nodded, understanding. "If you change your mind, tug on your right ear, I'll get you out of it."

"You must find me terrible," Chuck replied.

"I find her terrible," Sarah replied. "So what made you leave?"

Chuck studied her a second and then grinned. "She said you must be one of 'those'. You're just working here until Hollywood casts you. Basically you're headed for a life as a porn star according to her."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I actually like this job. I'm finishing up my degree in linguistics and going to work with children."

"That's awesome," Chuck replied and then shook his head. "Sorry, my brother-in-law uses that word so many times I call him Awesome."

She pushed the drink to him. "Give it a try," she said. He took a drink, his eyes widened and he looked at her. "Good, huh?" Chuck nodded. "It's my favorite, Belvedere with a splash of freshly squeezed grapefruit."

"It's sad, I'm enjoying spending time with you more than my date," Chuck said, not thinking. A grin crossed Sarah's face.

"You know, I'm not one who believes in chasing guys who are on a date, but if she were to leave you, I might feel obligated to go out with you."

"For pity?" Chuck asked.

Sarah nodded. "Is that bad?"

"Are you kidding, I expect a pity date from would be 1000% times better than Brenda's best one." Chuck paused and sighed. "But, that would be terrible of me to do, so…" Sarah smiled at him.

"You're a good one…."

"Chuck," he replied. "Chuck Bartowski." With that, he smiled at her and returned to his seat with his drink. "Sorry that took so long, Lester was wondering how to turn on a PC."

"Who's that?" Brenda asked.

"You know the guy I work with," Chuck replied.

"Fire him," Brenda said with a shrug. "If they can't do the job without your help, get rid of them." Chuck saw Sarah's face, hearing that as she approached.

"Are we ready?" Sarah asked. Chuck turned to her and it took everything in his power not to tug on his right ear.

"I'll have the chicken finger salad, but no lettuce." Chuck's eyes went wide. "Too much fiber," she explained. "Wait," she said, stopping Sarah from turning to Chuck. "I could have the burrito…"

"Wouldn't the beans give you too much fiber?" Chuck asked.

"I'd get it without beans," she said.

"What was I thinking?" Chuck asked Sarah. She twisted her lips trying not to smile.

"Are you flirting with her?" Brenda asked.

"No, he's not," Sarah replied. "He a movie producer trying to get me into the business. He's been nice enough to offer me a private audition tomorrow."

"Excuse me?!"

"He's offered to give me private coaching," Sarah continued. Brenda glared at Chuck, stood up, slammed the menu to the table.

"And here I was so sure you were a good one, God you men are pigs!" and with that, Brenda stormed out. Chuck just sat there, laughing his head off.

"Has anyone told her it's the ruffage in lettuce…not fiber?" Sarah asked. Chuck laughed even harder.

}o{

"I'm sorry, I should have waited until you pulled on your ear," Sarah said, sitting across from Chuck a few hours later. They were at an all-night diner, and Chuck had gotten a burrito, with beans, and Sarah a chicken finger salad, with lettuce.

"Please, don't apologize," Chuck said, watching the door open and Ellie come in. Chuck's smile began to grow. "Uh, Ellie's here."

"Welp, guess I'm in trouble," Sarah said to him. Ellie walked up to them, shaking her head, motioning to Chuck to scoot over.

"How's your acting coaching going?" Ellie asked Chuck. Sarah burst out laughing. "You know what kills me?" She paused and turned to Sarah. "I'm sorry, I'm Ellie, Chuck's sister."

"I'm Sarah, Chuck's second date for the night," Sarah replied, reaching across the table and shaking Ellie's hand.

"And from what I hear, by far, the best one," Ellie said. "She believed that my brother was going to be that guy. She never asked him if that's what was going on, or even if he really had invited you, and she just jumped to her own conclusion."

"It's almost like she wants to be miserable," Sarah said, as she took a bite.

"She's a different person when talking about men." Ellie said, shaking her head, disgusted. "What are you two eating?"

"Well, Brenda couldn't decide whether or not to have a salad without lettuce or a burrito without beans so we, being huge jerks," Chuck began.

"The biggest jerks," Sarah added.

Chuck nodded to her in agreement and then turned back to Ellie. "We decided to have the things she couldn't."

"You two are horrible…and I totally approve," Ellie said, grinning at them.

"Thanks, Mom," Chuck replied. She socked him on the shoulder. "OW!"

"Don't be a jerk," Ellie muttered. "Thank you for saving him," she said, turning to Sarah.

"Wanna know what I really like about him?" Sarah asked. Ellie nodded. "I told him to pull his right ear and I'd get him out of the date. He never did." Sarah studied him for a minute. "He never would have either."

"Nope," Ellie replied. "Even when he was texting me I knew he wouldn't just dump her."

"He's a good one," Sarah added.

"I agree," Ellie said, getting up to leave. "You two have fun, and Sarah, make him bring you to the apartment for dinner some time."

"Thank you, Ellie," Sarah said.

"Did I tell you what's she's studying in college?" Chuck asked as Ellie rose. "Linguistics to help kids." Ellie just studied Sarah for a moment.

"How about tomorrow night for dinner?" Ellie asked Sarah.

"Can I come to?" Chuck asked, grinning.

"You have to, you're bringing her," Ellie said. "I need to get one of these set-ups right for you." And with that, Ellie left.

"I guess you'll have to go on a second date with me," Chuck said to Sarah and then worry shot across his face. "Wait, do you have to work?"

"Nope," Sarah replied, picking up a cherry tomato and popping it in her mouth. "So that just means I have to get you to ask me out for the third, since I kinda asked you out for this one."

"If you survive Ellie and Awesome, then I'll take you whereever," Chuck replied. An evil grin crossed Sarah's face.

}o{

_A few days later_

"Hi, welcome…." Brenda began as she saw the couple entering the bookstore. "Oh my God!"

"Hey, Brenda, wasn't it?" Sarah asked. "Do you have the Kama Sutra?" Brenda stormed away.

"So is that a no?" Chuck called after her. The two laughed, left the bookstore and headed to the hospital to read to the kids in the oncology ward.

"We are evil," Sarah said.

"So evil," Chuck replied. "Would you like to be evil with me later on this week?"

"Chuck, I'd like to think we're evil, exclusively." Chuck smiled as they entered the hospital.

* * *

A/N: Just a little something for everyone. I don't know if you've seen it on Facebook, but I'm going through some health stuff right now. I'm okay, but me writing just isn't working like it normally does. Give me some time to get my head around things and I'll be back like normal.

Also, if you enjoy fanfic, come on over to the Chuck Fanfiction private group, where we talk about everything fanfiction related, I make a stupid amount of polls, and Joe and I argue about which Christmas movie is better. When you click the button there are three questions, please answer them. I'm the one who approves a lot of the requests so I have to know it's a real person, and not some bot. See you soon here and/or on the Facebook page.


	10. The Jeweler

A/N: Nothing was working in my head and then I got lost in the OTP Prompts again, so… (yeah, you all SOOO hate it when I do that.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

* * *

She looked up and smiled. He had been in twice that week already. He had bought some very sensible, nice pieces of jewelry, but this time, he seemed… frustrated. He was always kind; his smile made her heart skip a beat when he flashed it at her. She didn't think he was her type, but as she got to know him, she learned that he was. He was crazy smart. Tall, lanky, curly hair she wanted to run her hands through… and as down to earth as could be.

He didn't take himself seriously. In fact, he might not take himself seriously enough. Whoever was receiving these pieces, they should talk to him, build him up. He was a good man, and those were hard to find.

"Can I help you?" she asked, approaching him.

"Sarah, right?" She smiled and nodded. "Good, and I'm sorry to be such a bother. I just need to get this right, you know?"

"It's no bother. In fact, I find it sweet." He looked up at her, a questioning expression on his face. "I wish I had someone in my life that spent as much time as you have, to get just the right piece for me. In fact, I'm tempted to make a video, so you can give it with whatever you finally buy, so she can know how much time you really spent working on this."

"Oh, God, please don't," he said, chuckling. "She'd just tell me I can't make up my mind, and need to be more decisive."

"Fine, but I still think she'd appreciate it," Sarah argued. He smiled at her, and she felt her heart melt a little more, and her hatred for this woman he was shopping for grow. "So, did you decide on earrings?"

"No, I think, after looking at her jewelry box last night while she was at work, a necklace would be more of what she wants. Something simple, but…"

"Sophisticated?" Sarah offered. His eyes went wide, and he nodded, grinning.

"That is the perfect way to describe her," Chuck replied in an awe-filled voice. "You're good at this Sarah…Walker?"

"Yes, Chuck, Sarah Walker," she said with a wink. Why she did that she didn't know… okay, she did, but she shouldn't, because he had someone. "If I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to learn about me."

"I find people interesting," he replied with a shrug. "And, with everything I've had to tell you about me-"

"More about her, but you haven't told me her name," Sarah reminded him, walking over to a necklace that she thought would be perfect for Chuck's woman that she was rapidly coming to hate.

"Ellie," Chuck said softly. "Her name is Ellie. She's been there for me practically my whole life." He shrugged and seemed to be in a far-off place, thinking. "When Mom and Dad left… she was there, taking care of me, being my rock. I wanted to do something really nice for her."

"You must love her a lot," Sarah said, holding out the necklace.

"Yeah, I do," Chuck replied, looking at the necklace and missing the look on Sarah's face. "This is perfect," he said, a little breathless. She smiled as he looked up. He deserved this, something to make her happy. "Now, for the most important question." She grinned and flipped the price tag, seeing the relief in his eyes. "YES!"

"Shall I box it and wrap it for you?"

"Would you?" he asked with a grin. She nodded and headed toward the register, him following. He now seemed nervous, and she was wondering if he was having second thoughts about this being the right piece.

"She'll love it, I promise you," Sarah told him, hoping her reassurance would help.

"Oh, I know she will. You picked it out, and your taste is exquisite," Chuck replied. "Which is why I question what I'm about to do," he muttered.

She looked up at him, an eyebrow lifted, amused. "You're going to offer to show me that video game you created?" she asked. "I mean I enjoy seeing you excited about it, but I must confess: I don't play video games. Although, I would be willing to play yours."

"You would?" he asked, seemingly shocked.

She shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? I'm not saying we're close friends, but… I like you, Chuck," she said, holding his gaze. She wouldn't tell him how much, but he had to know, she needed him to know. "I'd like to think I got to know you, and you're a good guy."

"I am… I mean, I _think_ I am," he sputtered. "Ack, listen I need to ask you something."

"Okay, shoot," she said, going back to wrapping the necklace.

"Would you go out with me?" She stopped what she was doing and looked up. She was stunned. He looked nervous and serious. How could he do this to Ellie?

"What about Ellie?" she asked, anger flashing across her face.

"I think Ellie would like you," Chuck replied. Her eyes went wide. "But, what does my sister have to do with us going out?" Chuck watched Sarah's face go from surprise, to shock, to understanding, to happiness, to absolute, uncontrollable laughter. "I mean, if you don't want to go, just say no," he said, a tad affronted.

"No, I mean, yes, I do," she said, snorting laughter. "Chuck… I thought Ellie was your _girlfriend_." Sarah watched his eyes go wide, and then understanding reached his features, followed by the same uncontrollable laughter she had.

"OMG!" he yelled, half bent over from laughing so hard. "You thought… you thought… OHMYGOD!"

She threw some discarded wrapping paper at him, grinning. They both sobered up, and Chuck had a grin on his face. "So… wanna meet Ellie?"

"Yeah, I'd love to," she replied.

* * *

A/N: If you have a quick idea for a scene please let me know and I'll see what I can do. I love these little one shots.


	11. The Worst Neighbor EVAH

A/N: Bad day? OTP fluff inbound.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

* * *

"Man, how long has it been?" Bryce asked, looking around Chuck's apartment. He noticed it was less _nerd_ than when they were in college together.

"Two years," Chuck replied. "A lot's happened, since you went home. Hey, how is your mom and dad?"

"Oh, they're good, and they wanted to thank you for letting me out of the contract to help them out," Bryce said. The appreciation for his friend was clearly visible on his face. "Soooo, what's happened? You dating anyone, have you at least met someone? Tell me you're not still moping over Jill?"

"No, I'm not," Chuck replied.

"Come on, man, tell me… there has to be _someone_ here you've met. This complex is full of singles, right?"

"Oh it is, but some of them…" Chuck trailed off.

"Hot?" Bryce asked, grinning. "I saw this blonde earlier in a Porsche… she is…" He trailed off.

"A hot mess," Chuck said, shaking his head.

"Really?" Bryce asked, a little surprised. "Dude… she's a smoke-show."

"Still a mess," Chuck replied, a grin on his face.

"How?"

}o{

_18 months ago_

Chuck had just gotten home when he heard a yell.

"CURLS!" He looked up to the heavens for strength: Carina. "You have got to come to the party."

"Carina, it's been a long day," he began.

"Nope," she said pushing him toward his apartment. He opened the door and she followed him inside, still holding her drink. "Go change, you have five minutes until I come in that bedroom and start ripping off clothes."

"I thought I was putting _on_ clothes," he replied, confused.

"Curls if you're not ready in five, _I'm_ taking them off, and then…" she waggled her eyebrows, and he fled.

He was dressed in three.

"See, if I gave you too much time, you'd have hemmed and hawed over what you should wear, and you look good. There's someone Z and I want you to meet."

Chuck shrugged, and followed Carina to the party they were throwing in the courtyard. She motioned Chuck to follow her, as they headed toward a blonde woman who had a cup in her hand and was telling a story. "And then, BOOM!" she said, throwing her arms wide. Her fist hit Chuck square in the nose."

}o{

_Now_

"Oh my god," Bryce said, trying not to laugh. "What happened?"

}o{

_18 months ago_

"Should we at least take him to the hospital?" the blonde was asking, holding a bag of frozen peas to his nose. The three women had gotten Chuck back to his apartment. He was sitting on the couch, his head tilted back, wondering who this crazy woman was that was now trying to take care of him.

"No," Carina replied. "I texted Ellie, and she's on her way."

"Who's Ellie?" the blonde asked.

"Well, _Sarah_," Carina emphasized. "Ellie is Chuck's sister, and a brain surgeon."

"Oh," she replied, turning a shade of red. Looking at Chuck, she said "I'm really, really sorry… I never caught your name."

"It's Chuck," Zondra informed her. "And just so you know, that woman practically raised him, so if she chews your ass, take it." Sarah nodded, and turned back to Chuck, wincing.

}o{

_Now_

"Ellie chew her out?" Bryce asked.

"Oh no," Chuck replied. "Ellie thought it was hilarious, and they became best friends."

"Okay, so Ellie and she are friends, but you said she's a mess?"

"She is, she's such a mess," Chuck replied, shaking his head. "Especially if mojitos are involved. Bryce raised an eyebrow.

}o{

_16 months ago_

Tonight's party had been calmer. Every time Sarah had started to tell a story, he would step back, making her laugh, and give him a small grin. He left early, exhausted from all the coding he had done that day. He wanted to stay, but he was in no shape to hang with the three amigas. After he promised them he'd hang out with them the next day, he went home, showered, and crashed into bed.

He quickly fell asleep, and was some time later awakened by a strange noise. "I don't know who the hell changed my locks, but I'm gonna talk to the super in the morning," he heard a slurred voice coming from the living room, and then the door slamming. Chuck was exhausted… he couldn't wake himself up enough to figure out what was going on.

He heard things hitting the floor and then the covers lift, and a body crawled into bed and snuggled up beside him. Suddenly the warmth beside him was gone. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED?!"

"First, it's my bed, and my apartment," Chuck replied. He sat up himself, shocked that Sarah was in bed with him wearing only what appeared to be a t-shirt and underwear. "Second, how the hell did you get into my apartment?"

She stared at him for a second, and then she blinked. "In the morning, we're gonna have to get you some better locks. I picked that one _way_ too easy." Chuck blinked. "Do you snore?"

"I don't think so," he replied. A hand was on his chest pushing him back down. He began to panic.

"You're not getting lucky, but I'm drunk, and don't really want to figure out where my apartment is," she began.

"It's next door," he began.

"SHHH, Chuck! Sleepy time." And with that she was snuggled against him, asleep.

}o{

_Now_

"HOLY SHIT DUDE!" Bryce exclaimed, and then his eyes narrowed. "How did she get into your apartment?"

"That's her story to tell, Bryce, not mine," Chuck replied.

"But she told it?" Chuck grinned and thought back.

}o{

_16 months ago._

He awoke to the smell of eggs and bacon. He blinked a few times, and wondered what was going on. He got up, making his way to the kitchen. There, a freshly showered Sarah Walker was wearing his dress shirt, and good Lord did she look better in it than he ever did.

"Good morning," he said.

She spun, spatula in hand, caught eating a piece of bacon, a smile on her face. "Good morning," she replied. She glanced down at her shirt. "Sorry, I wanted something clean and-"

"No, no, go right ahead. I mean, it isn't like I could stop you if you wanted to get in and take it," he said, levity in his voice, a grin on his face.

"Okay, you get that one," she began, pointing the spatula at him. "But any jokes about sleeping with you and making you breakfast, and I'll break your nose again." Chuck threw up his hands, laughing. "I'm sorry about last night."

"You know what, it's fine. I'd like to think we're friends, and the upside is, if I ever lock myself out of my apartment I don't have to pay a locksmith." She shook her head at him, and motioned for him to sit. She brought him a plate. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I never saw you as a breakfast-making kind of person."

She gave him an amused look, and walked back to the stove. Chuck tried, and failed, to not watch her long bare legs. "What can I say, I'm complicated… a mess, but complicated."

"A hot mess," Chuck muttered. She spun slowly, an eyebrow raised, and it dawned on him what that sounded like. "I-I mean, the phrase, hot mess, not saying _you're_ hot." The eyebrow went up further. "Not that you're _not_ hot… dear God, how much farther can I stick my leg in my mouth?" Sarah burst out laughing. Chuck dropped his head, chuckling. "Wow, that was special, even for me."

"You say sweet things like that to every woman who breaks into your apartment and sleeps with you?"

"So far, 100% of the time, yep," Chuck replied. "So tell me," he began after they had sobered. "Did you take a class?"

The smile fell from her face and she gave a tight, quick head shake. Chuck quickly picked up this was a sore subject. "You know what," he said quickly. "It's none of my business." She gave him a soft smile. "It's not."

"It's not," she agreed. "That's why I'm gonna tell you."

}o{

_Now_

"Dude, you okay?" Bryce asked. Chuck blinked and looked at him. "You were thinking about her," he accused.

"Yeah, I was, she's a hot mess," Chuck replied. "Do you know she thinks J.K Rowling messed up with Harry's love life? She thinks he should be with Hermione."

"You two talk Harry Potter?" Bryce stared at his friend. "You like her." Chuck shrugged. "Dude, you need to ask her out!"

"Bryce, it's not that simple," Chuck began, but the door opened, making both turn. There stood the blond woman Bryce had seen earlier. "Hey, Sarah, Bryce thinks I should ask you out."

She grinned, shut the door, walked over, and gave him a kiss. "You should," she said, pulling back a little. "We haven't gone out in a few days."

"What's going on?" Bryce asked.

"Bryce, this is my fiancé, Sarah Walker. She's a hot mess," Chuck explained. Bryce looked from one to the other.

"Nice to meet you, Bryce," Sarah said, offering him her hand. He shook it, and looked at Chuck.

"I was getting around to telling you," Chuck said, scratching his neck. "The reason I wanted you here was I want to ask you to be a groomsman."

"Dude! Absolutely!" Bryce replied. "This is… this is awesome!"

"It is," Sarah agreed, her hand on Chuck's chest. "Did he tell you how we met?"

"You mean when you broke his nose?"

Sarah turned to Chuck. "Really?" she asked. "I mean, it wasn't _that_ broken."

"Hot mess," Chuck said to Bryce, as Sarah gave him a push and headed toward the kitchen. Chuck watched her leave and turned back to Bryce. "I've never been as glad someone punched me, as I've been since she did."

* * *

A/N: I missed these.


	12. The Choice

A/N: Oh look, and OTP

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

* * *

"You here to finish me off, sweetheart?"

Sarah stared at the tall, curly-haired man. It was clear he was drunk. It wasn't said as anything misogynistic, or mean; it was clear he meant she was there to finish him off. He was swaying, and looked to be in bad shape. She should run – she knew she should – but something said not to. "Great," she muttered. "Come to the party, they said. It will be fun, they said. It's for singles."

"And that's me… asingle," he slurred. His eyes went wide, and then hers did. He spun and threw up in the flower bed. "Oh… _that_ was what I ate for breakfast," he said, blinking.

"I need to go," Sarah said, turning to leave.

"Same thing my girlfriend told me," he murmured, making her pause. "She needed to go… away from me."

"When you say go," Sarah began, knowing she shouldn't answer, knowing she had _never_ gotten involved in other people's business, but there was something in his voice… something… she recognized.

"Left," he said. "Gone. Gurl, bye." Sarah snickered at that. "She broke up with me, on New Year's Eve, all because… because…" He blinked, his eyes unfocused. "I don't know why because."

"Okay, you need to put down that drink," Sarah said as she stepped toward him.

"Nope," he said, pulling it away, as it sloshed over his arm. "It's mine, and you can go get your own. Or… or… orrrrrr…"

"You've forgotten, haven't you?" Sarah asked, amused.

"Nope, still remember her… old whatshername."

"I'm Sarah," she said.

"You're really pretty," Chuck replied.

"That's a weird name," Sarah teased, unable to help herself.

"Right, I'm supposed to tell you my name. Sarah," Chuck told her.

"No, Sarah is _my_ name. _You're_ name is…" She let it trail off, hoping he'd offer it.

"Chuck," he replied, proud of himself. "My name is Chuck."

"Hey, Chuck, good to meet you. Can I refill your drink?"

Chuck handed her the drink, and she quickly poured it out. His mouth opened, the look on his face one of betrayal. "Shhh," she said, putting her finger to her lips. "She poisoned it, you know."

"Who?" he asked, his eyes wide. "Jill? Why'd she poison me? Is breaking my thumpytumpy heart no enuff for her?"

Sarah just shook her head, feeling a little terrible, but a lot amused, for what she was doing. "Chuck, will you let me take you home?"

"I don't know you that well, and you're really to pretty to be having the sex with me," Chuck replied. Sarah's eyes went wide. "And in the condition I'm in, it would probably be _really_ bad, and I got enuff goin' on without people finding out I'm bad at the sex."

"Chuck, I don't want to have sex with you," she said, figuring tact was out the window at this point.

"Story of my life," he muttered. He tried to straighten, but swayed quite a bit. "Why do you want to take me home? I smell."

"Well, that's part of the reason. I think a shower would make you feel better."

"You better run," Chuck said, his eyes getting wide.

"Why, you gonna throw up again?" She was amused by him.

"Because it's about to be New Year's, and you're gonna be stuck with me if you are here when the clock strikes midnight," Chuck explained.

"That's the dumbest thing I ever heard," Sarah told him.

"Nu uhhh," he countered. "You haven't been around me enough, cause it's obvious I've said dumber."

"And why do you think that?"

"Cause she left..." he said, a forlorn look on his face. "She left so she wouldn't be stuck with me for the New Year."

"Chuck, if she cared about you, she would choose to be with you. She wouldn't be stuck."

Chuck looked at her, and nodded. "I'm gonna go sit over there. After midnight, like a few minutes, not hours, would you take me home?"

"Okkkaaay," she replied. "Why are you going over there?"

"So you won't be stuck with me next year by being with me at midnight! Werenyoulistening?" Chuck's eyes were wide, and Sarah was doing all she could not to laugh at him. He weaved away, and sat down at a table. She looked at her watch and saw it was a minute to midnight. She studied him, listening to the voice in her head that said he was right. Then, she listened to the voice in her heart. She paused, checked her watch, saw it was 30 seconds until midnight. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to him and sat down.

"What are you doing?" he asked, shock on his face.

"Choosing," she replied.

}o{

The next morning, Chuck opened his eyes, looking for the band that was comprised of all drummers. He was somewhat surprised to find that there was no drumline, and that he was alone in his room. He blinked, and looked over at the clock, seeing it was 2 in the afternoon. He wondered why he had overindulged that much, and then remembered Jill. Moaning, he rolled out of bed, not bothering to grab a shirt. He walked down the hall, wondering what his brain was trying to tell him, as he heard two female voices.

"You don't look too good, baby brother," Ellie said, amusement in her voice.

"I disagree," came the other female voice, one that he recognized. Chuck's eyes went wide.

"Wha... what... why are you here?" he finally blurted out.

"Choices," Sarah replied.

}o{

That night saw Chuck, Sarah, Ellie, and Devon at a restaurant together. "So, what did he do after you sat down beside him?"

"That's a wonderful question, because _I_ have no idea," Chuck admitted.

"He didn't say a word," Sarah replied, laughing. "At that point, his mind was fried." Devon and Ellie were laughing.

"Thanks for coming over to check on me," Chuck said, trying to get the conversation off of him.

"You were pretty rough last night," she said, the humor gone, a softness in her voice that he found captivating. "Did you love her?"

Chuck snorted. "I have no idea," he admitted. "I thought I did, and I want to say I didn't. But isn't that what someone would say, right after they are dumped?"

Sarah nodded, a look of understanding on her face. "I've been there, and you're right, it takes some time to figure out what you want." She took a deep breath. "It also takes some time to figure out if you really had something, or if you ignored everything, all the signs, and you were there because..."

"You don't want to be alone," Ellie finished, nodding.

"Loneliness can make you put up with a lot," Devon added.

"Is there something you two need to talk about?" Chuck asked, worry in his voice.

"No," Ellie said, giving him a, "don't be stupid" look. "Chuck, Devon and I have been there. We've talked about this exact issue before. It sometimes takes being with someone, to understand what you'll put up with."

"I like that," Sarah said, Chuck turning toward her. "You need to see what is real to understand what you'd go through, or even went through, to get what you want."

"Apparently I wanted to go get the worst headache ever," Chuck muttered, making the whole table laugh.

}o{

Chuck answered the door a week later, surprised to see Sarah. "Hey, what's up?"

"It's Friday night, and I was wondering if you had a date, because if not, that superhero-y movie is playing, and I was hoping you could explain it to me."

"When you say explain…" Chuck trailed off.

"I've never seen any of them," she said with a shrug. "But it seems to be a thing."

"So you want to walk into the third _Avengers_ movie, with no background whatsoever?"

"Is that bad?" Sarah asked, pleased she had guessed this would be his reaction.

"Sarah…" Chuck said, tailing off.

"Well, is the first one playing somewhere?"

"I have it on DVD," he offered.

"Would you watch it with me?" she asked, grinning. "And, explain it to me?"

Chuck narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you up to?"

She sighed and stuck her hands in her back pockets, knowing she was busted. "I like hanging out with you. And I figured you had only been broken up a week, so I couldn't just straight up ask you out-"

"Ask me out?" he said, shock in his voice.

She continued on, grinning at his question. "So I thought I could maybe play on your nerdish charm to spend some time with you."

"You want to go out with me?" he asked, shock still in his voice.

"Yes, Chuck… I'm making a choice." He stood there, realizing they were still in the doorway. "Well, Chuck?"

"I need to make a choice, huh?" he asked. She bit her bottom lip and nodded. He stepped back, gesturing with a flourish for her to come in, and giving her room to do so.

She locked eyes with him, asking "You _do_ realize what you're getting into?"

"Do you mean by your going out with me? Or by your asking me to explain Marvel movies?"

"Why not both?" she chirped, walking in, grinning.

"Why not?" he replied. He blinked, and ran over to the DVD stand to find _Iron Man_.

* * *

A/N: I don't know if this was one of the better ones, but I needed Charah, so…here you are.


	13. Pancakes

A/N: The world is crazy, I need fluff, do you need fluff?

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

* * *

There was a knock on Sarah's apartment door. She had just gotten back from a two-week trip with her mom. In the past few months, they had patched things up, come to an understanding of why things had gone wrong between them, and for the first time in a long time, she had felt a sense of normalcy.

She had a good career in finance, a good apartment, but she did feel lonely. She didn't need anyone, but she _wanted_ to meet someone… someone who she could share her joy with. "Not like Mr. Right is going to knock on my door, is he?" she grumbled. (Writer's note: It's like she doesn't even know who's writing this.)

She opened the door and blinked at the tall, curly-haired man that stood in front of her. "Um, hi… I have a crazy favor to ask you. Do you have an egg I can borrow?" She just stared at him. "I know, it sounds like a bad pickup line, but it's really the truth. I need an egg to make pancakes. See, my sister is coming over. I just moved out of the place we shared last week. Now that I have a real job and I have my own place, I wanted to prove I'm domesticated and stuff, and… I need an egg."

Sarah stood there, trying to digest everything she had just heard. "Yes, I have an egg," she replied. "At least I think I do… I was gone, so it might be expired?" She turned and headed toward the kitchen and realized he was still standing there. "Well, come in," she said, grinning at him.

"Should I shut the door behind me?" the man asked.

"Yeah, 'cause if you're a serial killer, you'd have to be the most polite one ever," Sarah replied, chuckling. She walked to her refrigerator.

"Or I'm a vampire, and have to be invited in," he said. Sarah gave him a look. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Worst thing about Santa Monica," she said. The man's face broke out into a grin. "I spent a lot of time on the road with my dad when I was a kid, and that movie was on _all_ the time. Plus, Keifer was pretty hot back in the day."

"You sure it wasn't Jason Patric?" he asked her. She grinned, as she pulled out the eggs, checking the expiration date.

"You got lucky… tomorrow," she said, spinning and offering him the cartoon. "There's only two in there."

"Thank you!" he said, with a smile, and a look of abject horror growing on his face.

"You don't know how to make pancakes," Sarah stated, amused.

"It's not that I don't know how…" he began. "I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone, you're over here trying to have your day, and I'm melting down because I want to prove to my sister that I'm an adult."

Sarah stood there a second. "You know what adults do if they can't do something? They get someone to teach them."

"Would you do that?" he asked.

"Cost you a pancake," she said.

"Listen, as long as my sister has two or three, you can have as many as you want, thank you so much. I'm Chuck, by the way," he said offering her his hand.

"I'm Sarah," she replied, as she shook it. His eyes went wide as she saw the eggs tumble. She caught them with her free hand, never letting go of his. "Got 'em," she said, with a grin.

}o{

Ellie let herself in like Chuck had instructed, finding Chuck and a woman standing in the middle of his kitchen… or what was left of it. "What happened!?" she asked, taking in the destruction with eyes wide.

"Hi, Ellie," Chuck said, trying to stop laughing. "This is Sarah, who came to help me make pancakes."

"I'd offer my hand, but it's covered in flour," Sarah told her, trying to stop laughing as well.

"Lovely to meet you," Ellie said, and turned to Chuck. "What the hell happened?" Sarah and Chuck burst out laughing again.

}o{

An hour later found the three at a breakfast place that served pancakes all day. Chuck and Sarah had both showered – at their respective places – and Chuck had insisted she join them, as had Ellie.

"So to recap, I dropped the egg, stepped on it, slipped, crashed into Sarah who was holding the flour, which then went _everywhere_. She then got up, went to the sink, and turned on the faucet. That sprayed water _everywhere_, turning the flour into a paste-like substance. I got it turned off, and at that point, we could either laugh or cry," Chuck explained.

"So, seventy-five percent your fault," Ellie said, shaking her head at him, but noticing Sarah notice Chuck. "I apologize for my brother, Sarah."

"Don't," she replied, making Ellie smile inside. "I found it all charming, and real. Something you don't see too much these days," she said with a shrug.

"I don't think Chuck has a fake bone in his body," Ellie told her.

"I don't either," Sarah replied, looking over at him. "And, I got pancakes," she said with a smile, turning back to Ellie. "It's the simple things, right?"

"Right," Ellie replied.

}o{

A week later, Chuck heard knocking at his door. He walked over, opened it, and was a little surprised to see a smirking Sarah Walker. "Hi," he said, with a grin.

"Hi, yourself," she replied, amusement covering her face. "You owe me pancakes."

He looked confused, and then shrugged. "Let me get my wallet," he began, but her fingers wrapped around his wrist, stopping him. "Nope, I'm teaching you how to make them."

"I _just_ got the last of the gunk out of the kitchen," he protested.

"Grab your keys, and come with me," she said. "Please?"

"I'm guessing no one, at any time, has ever told you no," Chuck said grabbing his keys. When he turned back, he saw her wide eyes. "If they have, they're a fool," he added. He shut the door, and followed her to her apartment. Entering, he stopped walking, his eyes wide. He turned to her. "This looks like a kill room from Dexter," he said, making her laugh.

The kitchen was covered in plastic, except for the stove. "I might have prepared for a potential disaster," she said with a shrug. He looked at her, shock on his face. "What can I say, I'm a planner."

}o{

An hour later found them eating in her kitchen. Chuck was thoroughly impressed with his own cooking. "Wow… you did this, you do realize that, right?"

She shrugged, but she did seem a little proud of herself.

"You're seriously amazing. Is there anything you can't do?" he asked.

"Gather up my wits to ask you out," she muttered.

"What?" Chuck asked.

"What?" Sarah said, pretending she said nothing. They finished eating, and Chuck washed the dishes, thanked her profusely, and left.

Sarah slammed her fist against her head, frustrated.

}o{

A few hours later a knock brought her to the door. She opened it and found Chuck. "Hey, I have a problem again, and I know I have no right to ask, but I need help."

"Okay," she said.

"I need a woman's opinion… are you busy?" he asked.

"Nope, nothing going on with me this Saturday night," she said, pressing her lips together.

"Men are idiots," he said. Sarah didn't know how to respond. "Do you mind coming over to my apartment?" Sarah grabbed her keys, locked up her apartment, and followed him over.

He opened the door, and her eyes went wide. A table for two was set, candle lit, something on the stove. "So, I'm planning this evening, and I'm a little nervous, and I could _really _use your help."

"Okayyyy," she said, utterly confused. "What can I do?"

"Can you pretend you're on a date with me, and tell me what you think of the presentation, the food, and the wine?"

Sarah gave him a look. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," he said. She swore she saw the edge of his cheek twitch.

"Okay," she said, a little confused.

"Great," he chirped. He grabbed a glass of wine and handed it to her. She took a sip. "And?"

"Nice," she said.

"_Yes,_" he said, doing a fist pump. "Okay, follow me." She followed him into the kitchen. "First we have the salad." He put a small bit on a plate, and she tried it.

"Ummmm," she said, smiling and nodding.

"Awesome!" he said. "Now, the lasagna and bread."

She tried both, giving him a thumbs up. "You did good, Chuck." His face fell. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot the most important part," Chuck said, his face covered in horror.

"What, I'll help… what is it?" she asked.

"I didn't ask her if she'd have dinner with me tonight," Chuck said softly, grinning at her. Sarah looked at him, wide-eyed. "Sarah, would you have dinner with me tonight?"

"I kinda hate you right now," she said.

"I get it," Chuck replied. "Would it help if I threw flour on you?"

"I'll accept, on the condition that I get another dinner next week," she told him.

"Uh… first, you don't know if you'll enjoy this date _and_ somehow avoid food poisoning," he began.

"You have a point," she replied.

"Second, I'll raise you one date and make it two," he said, sticking his fists on his hips.

"Three, one of them will be popcorn and movies on that couch," she said. Chuck stuck out his hand and she shook it. He started to pull away when she pulled him in, close. "Gotcha," she said softly. "I would have said yes to just one."

"Nope, got _you_… I'd have gone out with you every night this week," he replied.

"Sounding kinda desperate there, buddy," she told him.

"You've met me… you _know_ that's my default setting." She leaned in and kissed him. "Thanks for helping me with the pancakes."

"My pleasure," she told him, and leaned in for another kiss.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it


	14. The Book

A/N: More Fluff. Unbeta'd.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

* * *

"So let me get this right," Carina began, not believing what her best friend had just told her.

"Please, don't," Sarah begged.

"You're telling me, you told the IT geek-"

"Nerd," Sarah cut in. "He prefers nerd."

"The moron," Carina corrected. Sarah winced. "That your computer wasn't working right, and he told you that he had to help his sister last night, but gave you a manual that you could use to fix your computer."

"Yep," Sarah replied.

"AND," she continued.

"You do know I was there, and literally just told you this story," Sarah said, glad they were in Carina's office and not on the floor where everyone could hear them.

"Told you that if you couldn't figure it out, to bring in the computer today and he'd fix it for you," Carina finished.

"Yep," Sarah said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Sarah, he's clueless," Carina pointed out.

"Yeah, he is," Sarah said, feeling her cheeks getting flushed and a need to defend him. "He's not assuming that I only want one thing from him."

"Oh, damn," Carina muttered.

"He's kind, considerate, and absolutely a nice guy and furthermore."

"Oh, lord, done gone furthermore," Carina muttered.

"Maybe that's what I need in my life, maybe what I need is a guy who respects me, who thinks of me first, who worries about my needs-"

"All of this from a user manual?" Carina asked.

Sarah continued, ignoring her friend. "Maybe that kind of kind, cute, curly haired nerd, with the soft brown eyes is _exactly_ what I need."

Carina was silent for a moment. "You desperately need to get laid." Sarah sighed, stood and walked out. "YOU DIDN'T SAY I WAS WRONG!" she called after Sarah.

}o{

She sat at her desk, wondering her next move. Chuck was a great guy, she had eaten lunch with him a few times, but he always ended up having to rush off because of some emergency in the building that just had to be taken care of.

He laughed at her jokes; the first guy she knew of to ever do that. He was kind, funny, and absolutely charming. Carina had told her he had gone through a break up recently and he was a little shy after it had happened.

She picked up the manual he had given her and looked at it. He had to go with his sister last night, because of….well, he said, but that was ridiculous, right? Was he blowing her off? She stood up, grabbed the book, and headed downstairs.

As she opened the door she saw his head pop up and his eyes go wide, a frightened look in them. What would cause that? "Hey, I need to ask you something, and I'd like you to be honest with me."

"Okay," he said, swallowing.

"Yesterday, I swore you said you couldn't help me because of…mother's day?" Relief flooded his face and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.

"Yeah, see…" Chuck paused, stood up, found an empty chair, and put it down close to him. "Please, it's a bit of a story." Sarah sat, intrigued. "Mother's Day is the day my Mom left my sister and me, and Ellie and I had to become reliant on each other."

"Oh my God," she said in a low tone, shocked.

"Yeah, my sister pretty much raised me so while I really wanted to come help last night-"

"Chuck, no, you don't owe me an explanation, I just kinda thought…" she trailed off.

He gave her a soft smile. "I was making up some lame excuse not to help you." She grinned at him. "You didn't open the book, did you?"

"How dare you," she said, pulling back, looking affronted, but smiling. "No, I absolutely did not." His smile turned sad. "I should have, I'm sorry, but-"

"You didn't have a clue what to do if you did read it, I get it." He held out his hand. "I'll come by tonight to look at your computer."

"No, you were kind enough to give this to me to look at to fix my computer, and that's what I'll do," she said. His face went white, horror covered his features, and Sarah was confused.

"No, nononono," he said, reaching for it. "You don't have to."

"Yes, I do," she insisted. "I'm going to open it-" She opened it to the table of contents and paused. She saw him swallow, and look down at the floor.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

"For what?" she asked, a grin covering her face. "Did you give this book to the wrong person? Is this your go to move?"

"What, no!" Chuck replied. He watched her peel the post it note from the table of contents that he had scrawled around twenty-four hours ago, asking her to go out with him.

"Chuck," she began, grinning as he sat there looking like a child that was about to get punished. "There's nothing wrong with my computer." He blinked, and looked at her, confused. "I just wanted you to come over to my place."

"Why would you want that? Don't you have friends?"

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Lord help her not to smack this cutie. She opened them and looked right into his. "Chuck, I wanted to go out with you."

"Wanted?" Chuck asked, daring not to hope what he dared hope.

"Want," she corrected.

"You and I?" he began. "Me and you?"

"Uses even," she said, beginning to chuckle. "Every time we try and talk around here you have to rush off to save the world, or at least someone's computer."

"Damn porn," he muttered, making her break out into laughter. "So, you want to go out with me?"

She nodded. "Yes. Will you?"

He was silent for a moment. "How do you feel about Mexican food?"

* * *

A/N: Hint, she really likes Mexican food. Hope you enjoyed it and it brought a smile to your face. Take care folks. DC


	15. The Surgery

A/N: More Fluff. Mom's doing great, thanks for all those asking. Unbeta'd.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

* * *

"So you're okay?" Chuck asked Morgan.

"Yeah, it was just getting my stomach pumped from the mystery crisper" Morgan replied, lying in the bed, in his room. "I'm getting to stay overnight because there was a slight complication and now I'm hopping Anna might come to see me."

"Buddy, a complication meant you could of died," Chuck reminded him.

"Dude…ANNA."

"Right," Chuck said.

"Okay, he has to go," Ellie told Morgan. "I snuck him up here, but that's it."

"See ya, Buddy," Chuck told Morgan, hugging him gently. Morgan was already asleep. "That's kinda impressive." He and Ellie walked out of the room and headed toward the elevator.

"Hey, I just got paged," she said. "I gotta go, sorry Chuck." She looked at him. "Don't sneak back to his room, I'll check in on him later, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, watching her walk down the hallway. He turned toward the elevators and that's when he heard it.

"Are you lost, I'm in here," came the voice. Chuck looked around, not knowing where the voice came from. "Chuck, I'm in here."

Chuck took a few steps back the way he came and saw inside a room. A woman about his age was lying in the bed, looking a little out of it. "Uh, do I know you?"

"Duh, Sarah, your girlfriend," she said. "Get in here." Chuck looked around, saw no one, and decided to go in so she didn't get overly excited and possibly hurt herself. "It's about time you got here. Hold my hand."

Chuck looked at her chart, saw her name, grabbed a chair, scooted it beside the bed, and took her hand like she said. A soft smile came over her face. "Sarah, are you okay?"

"Hmmm?" she hummed, nearly out of it. "I'm fine. They got my appendix out, but I had a lot of infection so they said I need to stay the night. I know that's gonna ruin our date."

"It's okay," Chuck told her, looking up and seeing the morphine drip. He followed the line and saw it in her hand. "Are you hurting?" She nodded. "I'll be quiet so you can sleep."

"No, it soothes me when you talk to me," Sarah told him. "Mom will be here soon, she likes you, you know. She really wants me to marry you."

"She does?" Chuck asked, amused.

"Yep," Sarah replied. "Don't you want to marry me, Chuck?"

"Sarah, that's probably something we shouldn't talk about while you're on morphine, you might say something you don't mean and I don't want to hold you to it later."

"You can hold me anytime you want, curls," she murmured, a happy smile on her face. "I can't wait to run my hand through those said curls either." Chuck gave her a smile as she drifted off to sleep, content. Chuck sat there a few minutes when he heard a gasp.

Chuck looked up and saw an older woman there. "I'm so sorry, she called to me, insisted I was her boyfriend, and I came in here before she hurt herself. She's on morphine and that may be what's messing with her."

"Look at that smile on her face," the woman said. "I'm Emma, Sarah's mother." Chuck couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry, she told me you were coming and you're crazy about me," Chuck told her. "All I can figure is she heard my sister, Ellie talking outside to me and that's how she got my name, I really am sorry."

"It's fine, thank you, Chuck," Emma said, looking down at his hand, still holding hers. "I think she likes that."

"Oh," he said, letting go of her hand, realizing what he had done. Sarah shifted and looked down at her empty hand. She frowned, looked up at Chuck, and then saw her mom.

"Hey, Mom," Sarah said.

"Hi, honey, how are you feeling?" Emma asked her.

"I was feeling fine, but Mr. No-PDA dropped my hand as soon as he saw you," Sarah replied, giving Chuck a grumpy look. "Will you please tell him that you like him and you know he makes me happy."

Emma grinned at her daughter and looked over at Chuck. "I think anyone can tell he makes you happy. But, dear, he has to go to work."

"No, we were going on a date tonight," Sarah said, confusion on her face.

"Yeah, but my friend Morgan, who I was seeing earlier, got sick and I need to go see everyone at the Buy More and tell him he's okay," Chuck told her.

"Fine," she said with a pout and puckered her lips. Chuck looked at Emma, horror on his face. Sarah rolled her eyes, and turned to Emma. "Will you please tell Chuck, my _boyfriend _that it's okay to kiss me in front of you?"

"I think he's concerned he might hurt you because of your surgery," Emma explained to Sarah.

"Well, it might, but it will hurt my heart more if he doesn't kiss me," Sarah replied.

Chuck blinked and looked at Emma. "I guess you better kiss her," she told him, mirth in her eyes.

He blinked again, and bent down to give Sarah a chaste kiss on the lips. Sarah was having none of it. She dropped her morphine pump, wrapped both arms around him, and kissed him soundly. Her tongue snaked her way into his mouth and the low moan that came from her made Chuck forget momentarily where they were. He pulled away quickly, once he remembered.

"A few more of those and I think I'll be healed," Sarah said happily. "Goodnight, Chuck," she said, as she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Chuck turned to Emma. "I'm really sorry-"

"Thank you," Emma told him, giving him a hug. "She's had a bad go with the guys she has been dating and for a few moments, I got to see my happy daughter."

"Glad I could help," Chuck told her, shaking his head. "Bye."

"Good-bye, Chuck," Emma said, and watched him leave.

}o{

It was a week later, Chuck found himself sitting at the Nerd Herd desk. He couldn't get her out of his mind, but he needed to. You didn't just fall for someone like that. You didn't fall in love over a kiss.

"Chuckster, you okay?" Morgan asked.

"No," Chuck replied. "I got to find her," Chuck said, standing up.

"Who?" Morgan asked her.

"Sarah, the woman from the hospital," Chuck told him. "I can't get her out of my mind."

"Blond, extremely good looking, about five foot ten and a half?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah…although that's a little specific," Chuck said. Morgan pointed and Chuck turned, seeing her standing in the doorway, beside the tape with measurements written on it. Chuck put his hand on the Nerd Herd desk and hopped over it. She saw him and walked toward him. They stopped, nearly nose to nose.

"Hi," she said, a unreadable look on her face. "I really need to kiss you."

"Okay," Chuck told her, and she did.

* * *

A/N: Fluff….it is good.


	16. The Realization

A/N: More Fluff. Unbeta'd.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

Sarah slammed the door shut, frustrated. "Another crappy date?" Zondra asked, lying on the couch, a grin on her face.

"God, why are men?" Sarah groused, walking to her bedroom. "I'm never going on a date again."

"I don't believe you," Zondra told her. Sarah came back out, having changed clothes and flopped onto the other side of the couch. Zondra grinned, reached over to the coffee table, and handed Sarah her headphones.

"Oh, wow!" Sarah said, smiling. "Did you do this? They were so badly tangled I thought I'd never be able to use them again."

"Nope," Zondra told her. "Your _bestie_ did."

"He is the best," Sarah said with a grin. "The other day we were talking-"

"Don't you mean night, and it was on the roof?" Zondra asked, fighting not to roll her eyes.

"Yes, it was on the roof, and I told him about the house I always dreamed about as a child, and he didn't laugh, do you know what he did?" Sarah asked.

"He asked you questions about it?" Zondra offered.

"Yeah," Sarah replied. She blinked and turned to Zondra. "How'd you know?"

Zondra stared at Sarah for a moment. "We really gonna do this, Sarah? Are we _really _gonna have this conversation?"

"What conversation?" Sarah asked.

Zondra was silent for a moment. "Okay, so you're still not ready."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked.

Zondra grinned, and tossed her phone to Sarah. "Look in the folder called idiots." Sarah gave her a look but did so. She looked up at Zondra, shock on her face. "What's wrong?" 

"These are all of Chuck and me, but you've photoshopped them to make it look like we're dating or something," Sarah told her. Zondra snorted a laugh.

"I can't photoshop anything," Zondra admitted. "That would be your _bestie__'s_ skill not mine."

"Why do you keep calling Chuck my _bestie_ like that?" Sarah asked.

Zondra stared at her. "Jesus, you really don't realize it, do you?" Zondra shook her head. "This is gonna be soooooo fun. Okay, I want you to answer some questions for me."

"Okaaaayyy," Sarah replied.

"Date with some rando you met somewhere, or watching nerdy movies with Chuck, which would you rather do?" Zondra asked.

"Well, I mean if it's a rando guy, I don't know them, and I know Chuck, and it means he would respect me," Sarah began.

"Look at the pictures labeled idiots watching movies," Zondra told her dryly.

Sarah scrolled through the pictures and looked up at Zondra. "None of these are photoshopped?" Sarah asked. Zondra shook her head. "I mean..this one is okay, it's just my head on his shoulder."

"The one where you look the most content I've ever seen you?" Zondra asked. Sarah couldn't respond, she just nodded. "What about the one you have him lying down, his head in your lap and your playing with his curls."

"His curls comfort me," Sarah insisted. "It's just…we're friends."

"So if I decided to tap that ass," Zondra began.

"NO!" Sarah said. "Chuck has a lot of emotions, and casual sex would just mess with him." Zondra gave her a long look. "Oh, God," she muttered. She scrolled through the pictures of her holding his hand, laughing and touching his shoulder familiarly as she did.

"Tell me something, Blondie, you ever spent the complete night with a guy?" Zondra asked. Sarah started to respond but glanced down at the phone. "The morning after photos."

Sarah closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened that folder. She saw them together the next morning, the warm smiles, Chuck making her coffee after he had fallen asleep in her room, them talking, or watching movies, or just not wanting to be alone.

She found herself licking her lips because they were dry. She found herself feeling things she didn't know if she ever felt.

"He doesn't feel that way about me," Sarah muttered.

"Check the file, At least one of the idiots are honest," Zondra told her, smirking. She pulled it up, it was a voice file, marked today.

_Be honest, Chuck, you like her, _she heard Zondra say.

_Fine, I__'m crazy about her, but I'm her friend, and that's all she'll ever see me as. I'm not the guy for her, she likes these good looking, muscular, hero-y looking types, and that's not me. And-and I accept that. If all she wants out of me is being her friend, then that's what I'll be. _She heard him sigh. _I wish she saw me as more, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and the heart doesn__'t want what the heart doesn't want._

Sarah stared at Zondra. "What do I do?" she asked in a whisper.

"What do _you_ want to do?" Zondra asked.

"I-I don't know," she replied. "That's not true," she said, shaking her head." She stood up and handed Zondra her phone.

"What are you going to do?" Zondra asked.

"Something either very stupid or very brave, but something that has to be done," she told Zondra, turning and walking out the door. She walked down the hallway to his apartment. She knocked on the door, and waited until he opened it.

"Bad date?" Chuck asked, an apologetic wince on his face.

"Something like that," Sarah admitted. "Remember that corny line you said you wanted to ask _her _someday?" Chuck nodded. "Would you tell it to me again, I really could use it."

"You sure?" Chuck asked, a little concerned. She nodded. "Okay." He grinned. "Did it hurt?"

She rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, when I fell from heaven?"

"No," Chuck replied, shaking his head and grinning.

"What?" Sarah asked, playing along, looking surprised.

"When you fell for me," Chuck responded. And then…_it _happened. He saw nerves on her face, but she began to speak.

"Yes," she said softly, his eyes going wide. "It has hurt for a long time and I didn't even realize how I felt…about you…about…us."

"S-Sarah?"

"It hurts every time I go out with some idiot and all I can think is, 'God, Chuck wouldn't act like that,' or 'Chuck would love this, I wish he was here'."

"Sarah?" Confusion covered his face. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I've been looking for Mr Right in every place except the one place he's always been." She gave him a smile, and stepped closer to him. "It's you, Chuck, and I get it, we're friends, but God, I think we can be so much more."

He was silent for a moment. "Does this mean I can kiss you?" She gave him an amused look and kissed him. When her lips touched his, many things happened, none of them she was really aware of. She grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer, her leg wrapped around him, and the soft moan that escaped her throat shocked her. The growl from him, as his hand was on her back, pulling her closer shocked her as well, but it was the best shock. They pulled apart, as each one searched the other's eyes.

"I could have been kissing you this entire time," she said softly.

"How damn dare you remind me of that," Chuck replied, making her laugh. "So, what do we do?" 

"Invite me in, and maybe we'll talk…or communicate in other non-verbal ways," she told him, grinning.

"Video games?" he asked.

"You are such a nerd," she told him. "But…apparently I'm really into nerds." He grinned at her. "Or maybe just one nerd in particular."

"Sarah…are you sure?" he asked her.

"Am I sure how this will end? No," she admitted. "Am I sure I want to try? Yes." He grinned at her. "Although I have a feeling I know exactly how this will end."

"So it won't last?" Chuck asked her.

She shook her head. "Nothing does, but I figure fifty, sixty, seventy years is a good run," she said, grinning. Chuck's eyes bulged. "Can I come in?"

"Sarah, you always were in, in my heart," Chuck told her. She shook her head at him. "Reconsidering?" he asked. She pushed him backwards, into him apartment, smiling at him.

"Nope," she said, shutting the door behind her.

A/N: Fluff is good.


End file.
